A Most Dangerous Love
by OneTrueSith
Summary: Two girls from two very different worlds. Originally they have nothing in common but as time goes by, love starts to fill the air around them. As I don't know how to put it under a Yuri class, this my warning to those who do not wish to read such stories.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

As a forward to you my readers, I must give a fair warning that this story will contain the following. Profanity, Sexual Humor or teasing, Adult scenes, Violence, and things along this line. If any of these topics disturbs you, do not continue reading.

For the start, this story is fair to be considered as Rated T for Teens, however as time passes it will evolve into Rated MA for Mature Audience. I will not give a warning of when this happens, partly as I'm still planning this as I go but also because I think the shock of the readers will make the scenes better.

As I'm still new to writing a story like this, suggestions and critique will be greatly appreciated.

I will try to upload regularly but I cannot guarantee that it will always work out.

Enjoy the story~

_**Clang! Clang! Clang!**_ The Arena echoed with the clashing of steel and might.

Alisha drew back a couple of steps, panting slightly as sweat ran along her body, blood running from a cut in her arm. She stared at her opponent with eyes narrowing on them as they locked onto the orc, her grip adjusting on her handle of her blade for comfort as she steeled herself. The loud cheers of the crowd that could deafen someone fell almost silent on Alisha. Adrenaline had coursed through her tuning her out of the world that existed around her with all her attention on the orc.

Alisha flipped her shoulder length black hair back behind her as the two combatants slowly circled each other looking for an opening. She caught a glimpse of herself reflected in one of the polished mirrors on the post some combatants use for cover and gave a slight chuckle.

Despite trying to control her hair, it was just an unruly mess while her normally lightly tanned skin was covered in dirt, mud, blood, and sweat. The heavy raiment armor that had to wear was not a type of armor she was proud of, but it did nicely accent her small frame and slight curves. Her light blue eyes trailed away from reflection and back to the orc before her, ready to bring him down.

She charged into striking distance once more with the words of her mentor echoing through her mind, "Never let your feelings cloud your mind, your actions. Think and go with the flow." Finding herself dodging down to the right to avoid any oncoming attacks she kicked out her left leg to hook her heel against the back of the knee of the orc to imbalance them.

With his knee buckling the orc goes down leaving her an opportunity to jump on his back. Without hesitating or giving it a second thought, she jumps on his back, wrapping her arms around the neck of the orc while bringing her blade against his flesh right her hand. Legs on the ground between his to make sure he couldn't break free of the hold she brought her lips to one of his ears she simply hissed a warning, "Surrender or go home in pieces!"

After trying to buck the young Imperial from his back, the orc screams in rage before lowering his head to ground. In a loud and clear voice, he raises his head up to the man directing the fights and yells out "I surrender the match and fight to my opponent and the Blue team." Alisha stays on his back until the arena manager announces it to the crowds that she has won the match.

Alisha stood up, letting the roaring and cheering of the crowd wash over her, she could help but start smiling and laughing. This was it. She had just won that match that promoted her from the rank of hero to the awe-inspiring rank of Champion. She pumped her fists in the air, smiling brightly before she looks around.

Regaining her composure somewhat, the young woman stands upright, faces the manager, bows to him then bows to each side of the stadium before she makes her way down into the blood works. As soon as the door is closed behind her, she can no longer contain herself and lets out a mix of cheer and a happy squeal. She hurries down to the wash bin to clean her arms and face of the dirt, grime, and blood.

Alisha finishes cleaning and makes her way to the staging area only to be scooped up in a tight hug by her mentor while her friends and fellow arena members cheer and congratulate her. She starts laughing and, once she's put down, shaking hands and hugging her friends. To say this is a major event for the Blue team is no small wonder. Since her mentor, no one on the Blue team has risen to the rank of Champion due to the Yellow team snatching up all the good fighters first.

After spending a little bit of time celebrating her victory, Alisha and her mentor Bradim walk out of the blood works only for the young Imperial to be nearly tackled off her feet by her cousin Brianna. Alisha laughed and hugged her older cousin tightly while smiling her.

"I'm so happy you did it little Ali!"

"What have I told you about calling me that!" Alisha proceeds to slap her cousin's shoulder and arm as both girls laugh a bit.

"When you are done beating on me, your most beloved of cousins, I have something to tell you." Alisha slowly stopped slapping Bri's shoulder, tilting her head slightly to the left curiously.

"And just what might that be?"

Looking briefly at Bradim then back to Alisha, Brianna smiles widely. "Welll…. Bradim and I have gotten some friends, lots of nice and exotic foods and drink, and even a few bards-"

"The bards were your cousin's idea. Not mine."

Without out even bothering to glance at Bradim and talking over him Bri continues "and everyone is waiting for us to return to the family home on the other side of town!"

Alisha's face lights up and smiles pushing her cousin softly. "That sound awesome! Lead the way and let's get to it! Otherwise, knowing Uncle Drenat, he'll drink all the booze before the party even starts!"

As the trio hurries off the party, none of them look back over their shoulder. If they had, one of them may have seen the shadow that shifted away from the pillars near the arena and tail them, sticking to the shadows towards the gate leading to the next district of the city.

Kierana slowly follows the three people at a discreet distance, alternating between flitting between the shadows and milling in with the afternoon crowd where tangible. She slightly scoffs to herself shaking her head. "I can't believe some of my brother and sisters wear their usual garb when out in the city like this."

She keeps her eyes her target, the Nord male walking with the two Imperial females. Her original plan had been to challenge and take him on as he left the arena. That plan had quickly changed seeing him exit with the new Champion. She shook her head briefly, having watched the fight between the woman and orc and had even lost 20 gold to that fight.

She tailed the three of them closely but careful to not get too close to them while trying to plan out her next move. "If they're heading to a private party, I won't be able to poison him or take him down in private. Maybe I can dress as one of the house helpers. Otherwise I'll have to wait for him to leave which could take hours..." She slowed down but never took her eyes off the targets but looking ahead she can see the large building they are heading to.

"Based on the size of the house… and it's location… they likely have servants… but not too many that I would be able to slip in unnoticed. And it's private so I can't just waltz in there… Damnit… I might have to find a place to hunker down and wait out the party. Dull as that sounds… it's my only choice right now."

The young assassin turned her back on the building and looked around the city block slowly, trying to find a nice place to hunker down and lay low. She smiled spotting a nice-looking bar. She smiled and made her way inside the bar, ordering a small meal and drink before claiming a table next to the window. She studies the house where her target is in partying. She smiles to herself and decides to enjoy her dinner. Her target and objective can wait until later when he's weak and vulnerable.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Kierana looked up from her second plate of food she was working on, stirring it around and not really eating it. As she watched, a few people left the house her target was currently in signifying the party was coming to an end. The young Nord stood up from her table, dropped enough coins to cover the meal, and slipped out into the night.

While she wasn't wearing the normal Dark Brotherhood armor, she was still dressed in a light black shirt and tunic with a hood up that was covering and keeping her short red hair hidden from sight. She smiled as she thought of the many nicknames her brothers and sisters had given her due to the hair. Their current favorite was The Crimson Shade.

After looking around slowly, she found a shadowy corner where she could stay hidden from sight but watch the door. She hesitated, suddenly worried that her target might stay the night, but she'd come up with a plan if that incident came to pass.

It didn't take long but people who had joined the party or been there from earlier started to file out and leave the large home. As she scanned the people leaving, she kept track of faces, recognizing a few people but none were her target.

The young assassin didn't know how long she waited or how many people she saw leave before perking up a bit. Bradim had just walked out of the house, alone, with just enough stagger to suggest he was tipsy, and, best of all for Kierana, waving off offers of the young Imperial she saw fight today to escort him home. She found it odd that the woman for whom the party was thrown was completely sober and seemed alert.

The Nord, despite being already hidden, tried to step further into the shadows as Alisha poked her head out of the house looking around and Bradim started walking home.

She gave him a twenty-five count then stepped out of the shadows and followed following the man down the street. What she didn't do or at least forgot to check was that Alisha had left the house and was now trailing them both but from a further distance.

As Kierana got nearer to Bradim, she rested her hand on her poisoned dagger but then paused a second. Was it just the light or had she just seen the reflection of armor under his shirt? If he was truly wearing armor, this mission had just got a lot harder for her.

As the Nord followed her target into the Elven District, she closed the distance, happy the two of them were heading to a back alleyway where it's secluded.

Kierana closed her eyes, taking a breath in, breath out to get her mind once more into Assassin mode. She drew her dagger and charged in at Bradim. However right as she made a lunge, the male Nord stumbled and, instead of slicing his arm as planned, her dagger hit the chainmail undershirt and the dagger's edge only grazed the side of his neck.

Bradim turned quickly, caught off guard at the sight of the black hooded girl. He thought there might have been red hair hidden in the hood, but his sight was instantly drawn to the dagger in her hand. He didn't even bother to ask questions as he drew out his Silver longsword and got in a ready position.

Not a word was spoken as Kierana dropped the dagger, pulled out a short sword and started to circle with Bradim, looking for opening. Seeing one, the younger Nord dove in at the Arena champion and swung her sword hard at his left side.

As Kierana charged in for her attack, Bradim tracked her move, and swiftly adjusted his sword's angle to deflect the hit. However, much to his surprise, he lets out a stifled cry of pain and looks down to see a fresh cut along his leg, blood starting to flow from his leg. The young female Nord smirks at the confused look on her target's face.

"My dagger may not have hit, but the slow poison still got absorbed into your skin. It'll slow all your reactions." Even before she finished speaking, the younger woman charged in swinging at his legs again since they are uncovered from any sort of armor.

Again, Bradim saw the attack but this time he swung his sword down and moved his leg back so that Kierana's attack swept nothing but air. However, the assassin quickly jumped away from the male Nord to dodge any sort of counterattack and spun to face him as they began to circle again.

Silently Kierana started to curse herself, this fight dragging on far longer than she would have liked. She glanced about the area while keeping her eyes on Bradim and hatched a plan. She started to move her circles closer to the male Nord, making him cautious and a take a few steps back.

The younger Nord gripped her sword and started to charge to the left. Bradim turned follow only to collide with the well to his side. He took a second to realize what had just happened, a second that was fatal as Kierana used this chance to jump on the older man's back.

Alisha hurried forward, hearing the clear sound of clanging metal, cursing herself for having to gone back inside her house to retrieve her own sword, having forgotten when leaving the party. She froze in the archway, watching in a mix of horror and surprise.

Her mentor was fighting a dark clothed figure, but his movements seemed slowly, less sure than usual. She drew her blade and kept a close eye on the fight, looking for her ideal moment to spring only to stare when somehow, the mysterious person tricked the man into running into the well.

The young Imperial was so shocked it took her a second to realize what had happened, and almost as if in slow motion, she witnessed his death.

The assassin had jumped on Bradim's back, slammed her sword into the back of his skull to stun then reached around front with her blade and quickly sliced it across his throat. The dark clothed figure went to the ground with her mentor's body only to slide the blade clean through his neck, stand up, and flick the blood from her blade.

"BRADIM!"

The shout made the figure jump and spin around, giving Alisa a look at the shrouded face. "You bitch! I'll make sure your corpse lies headless at his feet!" The Imperial charged at the assassin, all rational thought gone swept away by her grief, anger, and desire to avenge Bradim.

Kierana gave a yelp of surprise as she was forced to quickly defend herself from the attacking woman, already working on back pedaling. She didn't even bother to respond, knowing words would do nothing to calm her attacker.

Alisha swung her blade like crazy, trying different moves to try and throw the other woman off balance but she kept backpedaling. She gave a hard and powerful swing at the woman only to have the Nord duck her head causing the sword to glance off the stone wall, throwing Alisha off balance. Kierana used this moment to kick out at Alisha, sending her backpedaling and tripping over Bradim's body.

Instead of attacking and finishing off Alisha however, Kierana turned and ran. She had been told to only kill the Grand Champion of the Arena, no one else. Alisha groaned, got up to her feet, and took off after the other woman.

Kierana wove her way between the buildings, people still out, and the guards who heard the shouts of Alisha but thankfully not realizing who she was talking about. Kierana ran through the large doors leading to the Market District, aiming to make it to sewers as fast as she could.

Alisha made it through the doors to the Market District, more pissed off than before. Instead of the stopping the assassin that killed her mentor, the guards had instead stopped her, asked questions, and slowed her down. She spotted the other not far ahead and jumped down the stairs chasing her quarry.

The Imperial watched the other woman tun the corner past Rindir's Staffs and sped up as much as she could. As she reached the door to Rindir's shop, she heard the sewer grate sliding open and spun around corner in time to watch Kierana slides down the ladder.

She grinned seeing the fool's mistake. That portion of the sewers was cut off, she had nowhere to go. Alisha made her way down the ladder then stopped in horror. The assassin was at the hatch but, instead of being closed like usual, it was wide open.

Kierana stopped for a second to look back up and at the Imperial giving Alisha a clear look down at her. Alisha couldn't help but admit that the girl had pretty red hair and striking green eyes before the assassin turned and ran through the open hatch.

Alisha ran down the stairs as fast as she could but could clearly heard the other girl grunting before a clank heard. She watched in shock and rage as the hatch started to close and knew she couldn't get there in time but didn't' slow down.

She slammed fully bodily into the hatch, grunting a little and screamed with rage. She beat her sword on the hatch, cussing and swearing to the nine to wreck the life of the woman who had stolen her mentor's life.

On the other side of the hatch, Kierana took a few steps back, shaking a bit and worrying that if the girl's rage and banging keeps up, she might dent or even knock down the hatch. Never before had the assassin seen the reactions of her work so closely or this violently. She turned and quickly started racing through the sewers taking the path she had memorized to the exit beyond the city walls.

She tried shaking the thoughts of this mission aside as her job and journey weren't done, but her mind kept coming back to the face of the blonde Imperial.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

As a forward and warning to my readers, there is a dark scene later in this chapter. However, the scene is needed for future character development. I just wanna warn you ahead of time and give an apology to anyone that is bothered by the scene.

On another note, I have noticed my writing slowing down so I'm sorry for delays that may arise in future coming chapters but will do my best to keep a steady pace of sending out chapters.

***** One Month Later *****

Alisha slowly walker her way across the bridge from the Imperial Prison district and into the Market district. While she had slightly given up hope, she still made a point to visit the prison district and the guard captain there three times a week. Romous was one of those rare guards that seemed to care more about the people than money or power.

She kicked at a loose stone slightly annoyed. The day after Bradim's murder, she had talked to the guards quite a lot only to realize how little she had seen of the Nord female. Knowing only the eye color and hair color plus what she thought was a pale skin complexion didn't seem enough for the guards in Imperial City nor the others nearby to find her.

For the first week, she had gone daily to the Prison district, feeling certain she'd hear the news that the other woman had been captured but not even a sighting was reported.

"Damnit. If only we had got her that night. I know I could have if she hadn't dropped that hatch shut." Alisha mumbled as she turned from her view of the lake around Imperial city and started to walk back into the market.

She waved to the guards who were stationed at the door but kept walking instead of talking like them she had been.

She had quickly decided after Bradim's death that her best bet was to get to know all the guards well so next time, they might listen and respond better.

"Hey there Ali." Alisha looked up and smile seeing her cousin walking towards her. The Imperial gently shouldered her cousin with a soft glare.

"How many times do I have to tell you stop calling me that Brianna?"

"However many times you have plus a thousand more cause it's fun to bug you."

"I hate you so much."

"If you hated me so much, why do you keep me around and smile when we are together?"

Alisha took a second to let an evil smirk cross her face. "That isn't obvious? I keep you around because I plan to kill you one day if food ever runs low in the city and I smile because I enjoy the planning, I'm doing for it."

"… You are just the fucking worst Alisha. Maybe I won't buy you that scroll and books you've been looking at for a few weeks now for your birthday." Brianna looked at her cousin, feeling quite hurt by the words.

The Imperial paused mid-stride for a second. She slipped her arms around Brianna, pulling her cousin in for a tight hug. In all the commotion she had totally forgotten that her twenty-fifth birthday was only a few days away.

"I'm sorry Bri. You know I could never hurt you like that. I keep you around because you are the only person I have left to keep myself centered and sane."

Brianna leaned into her cousin but smiled a little. "I take it that you forgot next week was your birthday, didn't you?" Feeling Alisha nod while they hugged, the older Imperial smiled a little bit. "Good thing I'm here because I'd never forget when your birthday is."

Alisha broke the hug and smiled as they continued walking down the street. "Don't push your luck little Bri. You may have a few years on me but not height or muscle. I might not kill you, but I will push you into the pond next to the steps."

Brianna feigned a shock and hurt look. "Ouch, my dear cousin. That might be a fate worse than death. What have I done to deserve such a cruel and unusual punishment!" She fought hard to keep the smile from her face.

The younger Imperial kept a straight face as turned to face her cousin "Do you want me to fetch the list at home or just start naming the injustices off the top of my head. I'm sure I recall the top fifty off the top of my head."

She fought to keep a straight while looking at Brianna however after a few seconds, neither girl could hold and started to smile brightly. It was only a matter of moments before both girls broke out in laughter and started walking again.

The two girls spend the next hour just wandering around the shops in the market, looking at the various bookstores and the potion shop.

However, Alisha slowed down as the two drew Rindir's Staffs and turned to look down the alleyway to the sewers. She walked her way slowly down until she was next to the grate and stared at it, torn between her feelings.

Just a little under a month ago, the woman who had ripped her dear friend and mentor from her had escaped. That girl had not only dived into the sewers, but she had planned well ahead.

Her toes ran across the sewer grate letting her memories overtake her. When she had been younger, her and Brianna had run around through the streets, earning gold from the guards for killed the various mudcrabs or goblins that were living down there.

But they had also been warned away from the Bloodworks due to rumors of vampires. Alisha and Brianna had both eagerly agreed to avoid that part of the sewers. She frowned as getting into the sewers under the market was challenging.

The assassin would have had to go through either a further outlying sewer grates or, very unlikely, through the basement of The Best Defense or The Main Ingredient. Those store owners didn't like people even going near the basement doors.

She shook head. "Damnit. That woman really planned far ahead."

Alisha jumped slightly as she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned quickly to find Brianna looking at her worriedly.

"Alisha, are you ok?" Brianna was staring at her cousin closely. "I called your name a few times even when standing right behind you."

Alisha took a few seconds to breath and clear her head. "Y-yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry Brianna." She took a moment to force a smile to her face. "I was thinking about our younger days when you and I ran through the sewers killing mudcrabs and goblins."

Brianna grinned and elbowed her cousin. "You mean I fought them while you ran away like a crybaby bitch."

Alisha glared and shoves her cousin gently. "As if! I got as many kills as you did!"

Brianna laughed then pulled her cousin in close and looks at her more seriously. "I heard you Alisha, talking about planning. You were thinking about that fiend again weren't you?"

Alisha rubbing her left arm slowly. "Yeah... I was… Sorry Brianna. Just… that day is burned in my memory."

Brianna nodded slowly. "I can understand." With her arm around her cousin, she guiled the young Nord away from the sewer grates and towards their place in Talos District.

Alisha slipped free from Brianna as they arrived at their house. "I'm just gonna stay outside for a few Bri. Look at the stars. Call me in when Dinner is ready?"

Brianna nodded her head and went into their house. Alisha looked at the closed door before she walked into the garden they shared with a few other residents. She sat down on a bench and looked up at the stars.

She leans back against the stone wall behind her while smiling. It didn't matter the time of year, she looked to the stars and always felt more relaxed. As she looks around, two thoughts were in her mind. "Wonder where my constellation is?" and "Where is that murderous bitch at now?"

Far to the north, a bit outside the city limits of Bruma, amidst the snow-covered ground, a lone figure can be found walking to a cabin. As the person reaches the porch, they turn to lean on the rail and look up at the stars far above them.

Despite the cold and shivering, the young woman pulled her cloak tighter around her body and continued to study the stars. It was nice out here, far outside the city where people didn't come to enjoy the view.

Hearing a soft crunch on the ground, she looked behind her, saw nothing and turned back to watch the stars. They were always so much brighter outside the cities.

The woman started in shock, eyes wide feeling something cold along her neck, followed by a brief pain before everything started to fade to black around. As she fell, she thought she saw red as well but that soon faded from her sight too.

Kierana took a few steps back, watching her target dying, before she squatted next to her, rubbing her in front of the woman's lips to see if any fog from her breath showed on the knife. After checking the blade was clear of fog and the woman was dead, the young assassin stood and looked at the body before her.

Her mind drifted for a second, wondering who this woman she'd been told kill truly was and how her family would react.

Kierana shook her head and turned to walk away. "Damnit. This used to be much simpler." She started the long walk back to Bruma where her horse was stabled. As she was walking, she glanced up at the stars but let her mind wander a bit.

It had been a month since her fiasco of an assassination in the Imperial City of the Arena Champion. The Brotherhood had found her ten years ago, not long after her sixteenth birthday. She had killed the man that framed her father for a theft he was innocent of. Once she had heard that her father was sentenced to death, she knew there would be two fresh graves for the cemetery.

Afterwards, the Brotherhood had found Kierana and offered a home, a new family, and a new outlook on life. She had given her all to her new family, never held back. She had only ever failed one mission and never betrayed her brothers or sisters.

However, the last mission to the Imperial City had been different. She saw the look in the Imperial's eyes and couldn't help but wonder, is that how all her targets' families and friends looked. No matter what she did, where she went, or who she talked to about, that woman's face and look of anger stayed with the Nord.

In the month since that assassination contract, she had complete five other missions. Three of them had been nice as she didn't even need to see the target as they died. But that didn't matter as each time, after the target had been eliminated, the young Nord still had the same thoughts.

The worst part was that it wasn't just her imagination. One of her brothers had even mentioned that she was slowly down big time. Normally in a month, Kierana could complete ten assignments but this Imperial woman outside Bruma had only been her sixth.

She gave a heavy sigh as she reached the city and searched for her horse. As she found her horse, a rare smile came to her face. She ran her fingertips over his blackish gray mane a few times before leading him from the stable. "Come along Smoke, time to go back home to Telepe."

Kierana smiled thinking of the old Ayleid ruins northwest Leyawiin. The place didn't look like much to the untrained eye. But if you hit three buttons in the right order, a wall slid up to reveal the Black Door.

Her smile didn't remain long as she hopped on Smoke's back and started the ride home. There was a contract she had claimed before going after the Arena champ and no one else had grabbed it yet. But to do this job, she'd have to go back to Imperial City, and she didn't want to run into the young Nord again.

She smiled, running her fingers through long red hair, letting it hang down to her shoulders while riding her horse. This was one of the few times she still felt carefree. Riding Smoke through the woods and wide open wilds, enjoying the land passing while the wind sometimes whips her hair.

For the six hour-long ride down south to their hideout, Kierana was able to push away all thoughts, worries, and concerns, just enjoying riding her horse and looking around as the landscape race past her. The feeling never got old or boring for the Nord.

As she neared Telepe, she slowed down Smoke and had him walk up to the old ruins slowly. Kierana slid off the horse running her fingers through his mane again smiling happily. "Good job boy. That was a wonderful ride like always. While we won't be here long, I still want you to go around back to where the rest of the family's horses are hidden."

She smiled as Smoke neighed at her, shaking its mane before walking around the back of the ruins.

Kierana stepped up to the stone door but stopped with fingers upon the familiar and power filled stone doorway. She looked up at the sky and the stars far above her. The young Nord slides her fingers through her hair with a thoughtful smile, doing her best to not think that in a few days, she'll back in the Imperial city and near the Imperial that nearly killed her.


	4. Chapter 4

So, two things to mention here this time.

Firstly, I made a couple of mistakes as I wrote Chap 3 that I have become aware of recently. So, I'm going to be editing the chapter. What I am changing is how long it to for Kierana to get to Bruma after killing the woman at her cabin and then how long it took her to travel from Bruma to Telepe. It won't change anything in Chapter 4, but I want this story to flow and work right.

Second note is that you will hear me using Tamriel days, months, and holidays in the story. I'll be translating and explaining them after the chapters in the future. 

**Chapter 4**

Kierana made her way into Telepe, smiling as she stepped around the two floor traps, she learned about on her first visit through. As she reached the bottom floor, the young Nord walked over to the stone buttons and pressed them in the right order to open the wall. She smiled at the sight the black door. The first time she'd seen it, it had scared the hell out of her.

"What is the flavor of fear?" The raspy sounding question was spoken from the door.

Kierana smiled and ran her fingers across the door slowly. "Sublime, my brother."

"Welcome home." The raspy answer came from the door after a second before a soft click was heard.

The young assassin pushed the door open and slipped in, hearing the stone wall slide in place behind her. As she descended the stairs, Kierana yawned and shook her head. The hours long ride from Bruma had worn her out despite taking the few safe shortcuts she took. As she turned the corner and looked between the two dorms, she went into the one on the right which had been declared bed chamber for the more experienced assassins.

She had barely made into the room, taking a few seconds to notice that most of the beds were full before she walked to the bed in the corner and lied down on it. She closed her eyes smiling. However, after what felt like just a few seconds, the young Nord heard a lot of movement and groaned opening one eyes. To her surprise, the lights in the area had brightened and her brothers and sister were getting up. With another groan, Kierana rolled over, pull the covers over her head and closed her eyes again.

The next time she opened her eyes, she couldn't tell how many hours had passed but now felt fully rested. The young woman changed to her robes before she left the room and then continued down the hall. past the two dorm rooms and glanced in the training room. She didn't see their sanctum's Dark Brother there and so she made her way to the private room.

She paused outside then knocked on the door twice. After a few seconds, she heard a soft word "Enter" spoken. Kierana pushed the door open before smiling at the man before her.

"Hello Dark Brother Ramiz-Do." She smiled looking over the male Khajiit, noticing quite quickly that he was favoring his right leg. "Did you spar against Brother Lum Grogark while I was away?" She tried not to giggle as everyone knew of the friendly competition they had.

"That damn orc got in a lucky shot while we sparred." The Khajiit turned took at her from the papers on his desk. "I take it your target is dead."

Kierana nodded her head. "Slit her throat while she was at her private cottage as requested."

Ramiz-Do nodded his smiling at the woman before him. "Well done then Kierana. Though I must ask you something. Did something happen on a previous mission? You have been slowing down on your assignments and don't seem as enthusiastic to go to the big cities."

Knowing it was wrong to hide facts from her family, Kierana still hesitated but nodded. "I was seen and chased through one of the cities. But not by the guards who see so many faces, they are easily fooled. It was by a young man that saw me clearly. I suspect he gave my description to the guards."

The Khajiit stared at the Nord before him for a while in silence. Kierana knew he was trying to make her uncomfortable with the silence. However, despite knowing this, as the silence dragged on even longer, she started to feel quite uncomfortable about the whole situation but kept it hidden and her face straight.

"Which city were seen in?" He finally asked at last.

"Imperial City." She stated flatly.

He nodded his head, running his fingers through his mane thinking a bit. "I take it this is the reason that the contract you claimed a month ago has been sitting in your room uncompleted but not forgotten?"

Kierana nodded her head.

"I have had two of your brothers asking for the right to take it for themselves. I told them that you have until Loredas to finish it, after which they are free to make a move on the contract."

Kierana started to nod her head abut stopped thinking. "But wait, Loredas is the second of Hearthfire, the day before Tales and Tallows." She felt a smile pulling to her lips. "You know most people hide the day after so you're actually giving me until Morndas."

Razim-Do said nothing as he handed Kierana the pay for her most recent job. "If that's the case, someone might want to ride soon to the city to avoid any more suspicion than we naturally gather already."

Kierana shook her head smiling as she walked out of Razim-Do's room and headed deeper in the sanctum.

As she moved down the stairs, she heard voices from the kitchen but turned away from the kitchen to where the resident smith and alchemist lives. She has always found it rather fascinating that one Breton had trained herself to master two completely different talents.

As she entered the forge, she paused remembered the rules given to her on day two. "Do /NOT/ enter the forge without permission. Unless you want a poisoned knife in your skull." She drew out her dagger and knocked on the stone wall with the hilt of it three times waiting.

The woman before her held up a finger as she finished coating a piece of metal in a powder and slid it into the forge. Once it was placed over the fire, the woman wiped her face and turned to face Kierana.

"Ah the spunky, annoying little squirt is back I see."

"Not so sure you can call me little anymore Deidra. I'm no longer the kid that was found in a bloody room standing over her first kill."

Deidra smiled as she looked at the metal in the forge then back towards the Nord. "True, you have grown up into a skilled young assassin. But you're still a spunky annoying squirt." The Breton laughed when Kierana glared at her. "So, what can I help you with today?"

Shaking her head for a second but quickly smiling despite wanting to keep glaring, she locked eyes with Deidra. "I need a poison that can paralyze. My next target takes me back to the Imperial City and I would rather avoid the … complications … of last month."

"I gave you a powerful poison last month slowed the victim and should have allowed for a quick kill."

"Yeah except his armor denied me that small cut I needed." She crossed her arms and watched as Deidra held up a finger and withdrew the piece of metal.

Slowly the woman before her started to strike the metal with her hammer, drawing it out longer but turning it every so often to strike each side. After a couple of minutes, the Breton slid the piece back into the forge and turned to face Kierana.

"I can whip up a powerful poison for you after this blade is either hardened or scrapped by the quench. I'm trying an older technique and gonna use oil. Come by tomorrow morning after breakfast and I'll have it ready for you."

Kierana nodded her head and smiled. "Thanks Deidra." She turned and walked away from the forge, hearing the Breton woman hitting the metal with a hammer at the anvil.

As she walked up the stairs wondering what to do, the choice was stolen from her as her stomach rumbled loudly for food. "Guess that answers that." She chuckles and makes her way to the kitchen, following the smells. "Leave it to Scales to find time for contracts, shopping, and cooking for us all."

As she made her way into the kitchen, she noticed that the place was only half full. She approached the pot that Jeelius was standing over and adding a few more herbs. "Hey there Scales."

Without turning around, the Argonian's tail twitched softly. "Is that the voice of our weak scrapper?"

Kierana chuckled and moved over to see what Jeelius was making. "Aww, saying it like that makes it sound like you missed me."

"I miss the quiet I have when you're gone." The male Argonian finally turned from his cooking to face the Nord, his face splitting into a wide smile. "Welcome back from the recent hunt. And to answer your question, I'm making a new venison stew recipe I picked up last time I was in Cheydinhal and stalking the count's cook."

Kierana got a bowl and a spoon out from the cupboard and walks back over to Jeelius. "Let me try it, I'll be your guinea pig again. Your cooking hasn't killed me. Yet."

"Careful there smartass or I might add a few drops of poison to your bowl." Kierana and Jeelius both chuckled a bit as he spooned some into the bowl for her. "It's a bit on the mild side so I have been trying different items and seasonings to give it a more unique flavor. What do you think?"

As Kierana took a few small bites of the stew, she thought for a second. "I might recommend adding a bit of garlic or onion to better contrast the flavor you have so far but not enough to overpower the meat's flavor. But then I'm also a lousy cook and could be wrong."

Deidra smiled at Kierana. "Well, you won't find any arguments from anyone in this sanctuary about your shoddy cooking skills."

The Nord playfully shoved the Argonian while smiling and shaking her head. "You are such an ass."

"Yet you still seem to seek me out to talk to. What does that say about you?"

"That I need to find better companionship." The two started laughing as Kierana leaned on the table, eating the stew that had been served to her, just enjoy the hot meal. Being on the road as much as she had been her whole life until recently, it never really escaped her notice how much she enjoyed such moments.

She took her time eating, realizing she had half of a day to spend before she got the poison needed and left for the Imperial City. After she finished two bowls of venison stew, she washed her dish, went to her bunk and trunk, grabbed the scroll with her target's info on it, and walked to the small 'library' they had. While it wasn't really a library, they called it that as it's where the various books and maps were set up.

As she looked around the small area they had, she ran her fingers over the nirnroot plant they had set up. She walked over to the bookshelf, pulled a few books from the shelf, the maps of the Imperial City, and claimed the chair near the plants with a table.

Even though she had studied these maps and books a month ago for her last assassination in the Imperial City, it had gone so wrong she wanted to better plan her moves and attacks this time, so she'd be ready for anything. If she hadn't thought ahead to the release the lock mechanism in the merchant district, that Nord would have caught her.

As she studied the maps and planned her next move, Kierana also listened around, smiling a bit as she heard what her brothers and sisters were up to, where they were going for missions or what missions they just finished.

She did her best to not think of the Nord or how their targets' loved ones reacted to the deaths.

Once she was certain of her plans, she walked to the back of the sanctuary to the emergency exit and made her way out the back coming out near the horses. She looked around until she found Smoke and quickly approached him. She ran he fingers through his mane while looking up at the cloudy sky.

"Pretty soon boy, we're gonna have to make back to the dreaded Imperial City. Tomorrow morning, I get the toxin, and then we'll be leaving before lunch. So eat up, drink up, and rest up for that." She smiles and kissed the top of her horse's head before looking up at clouds once more while stroking his mane slowly.

**Notes: **

As I said in the intro, I'll explain stuff about The Elder Scrolls to the readers.

Loredas is sixth day of the week, equivalent to our Saturday. Morndas is the first day of the week and is our Monday.

Hearthfire is the ninth month of the year which makes it roughly September for us

Tales and Tallows is considered an evil day by many as it's a celebration of Necromancy. Many citizens of Tamriel, the continent on which The Elder Scrolls games take place, hide in their homes, or if forced to leave, avoid the streets as much of possible out of fear.

Also, I know this chapter is solely focused on Kierana, do not worry, the next chapter will have a heavy focus on Alisha explaining what she did this time.

It may or may not include the next assassination Kierana performs, but it will have a big impact on both characters when the time for that comes.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Alisha laid in her bed, looking up the ceiling, dressed in only her panties and bra, running her fingers through her hair. The past two days felt a blur to her despite it being slow motion with not much going on.

There had been a lead on her wanted criminal in Bruma but just as quickly as she had been seen, she had vanished. As if that wasn't bad enough, she had talked to Romous two days ago. He was getting pressure from the Imperial Legion Commander Martin Tharn to stop "chasing a ghost". To make it worse, she had seen members of the Legion taking down the wanted posters not long after she got the news from Romous.

The young Imperial rolled over in her bed and looked at the other side of her room where her Arena armor was set up. She knew that she needed to get up and get dressed but couldn't bring herself to. It was far too comfortable staying in bed.

She sighed a bit. Yesterday hadn't been as filled with bad news but it was still a rough day for her. Brianna had tripped on the steps between the two districts and gone crashing down, knocking over a guard and civilian on her way down.

If it wasn't for that fact that the incident involved her cousin, it would have been super hilarious. Instead now her cousin was sitting in prison until tomorrow unless Alisha got their money together to pay the fine of one hundred septims.

With a groan the young Imperial finally sits up from her spot in bed. She shook her head softly while walking to the cupboard on in her room and pulled out the loaf of bread and orange she stored there. She sat down at a table in her room and began peeling the orange slowly while smiling.

She had managed to convince Romous to let her see Brianna in prison. After discussing it for a while, the two had concluded that, with their funds currently limited, Brianna would wait on the time in jail. She was in a cell by herself, so she was safe from any threat.

As she started eating her meal, she looked out the window at the little garden area between the houses nearby.

There were two things that needed to be done today, however she didn't really want to do either. Just taking a day to lie around in her underwear sounded all too perfect to her ears. However, these things needed to be done and she had already put both off.

The first thing was minor but required her leaving Imperial City to visit Weye on the other side of the bridge. There was a man at the Inn that had collected some rare slaughterfish meat. Brianna had hired the man so that she could try cooking a fish that was known for being dangerous to face in the water.

The second item on the list is one she despised having to do. There a High Elf in the Temple District she would have to visit. The woman, Telir Andillar, in Alisha's opinion, was lowly and disgusting. The woman already came from wealth and yet, she used her position and power to tax and increase rent prices at random of people.

Just a few days ago, she had raised the price of their neighbor's house. Alisha needed to meet with Telir, appeal to her pride and arrogance, and attempt to persuade her to not raise the price on house for the two Imperials.

With a groan the young woman finishes her bread and stood up. "Damnit. Guess I had better put some clothes on so that I can make my way to Weye." She walked to her wardrobe and dug in it to find some street clothes.

She pulled on a silver green shirt and a pair of black pants. She stopped front of the mirror to tie her black hair back in a ponytail with a grin. "Might as well look nice while I'm out and about." She finished up getting ready and made her way down the stairs and towards the door, finally heading out into the streets.

After a few seconds of consideration, she decided to walk through the garden are on her way to the main doors leading to the bridge. She paused next to the flowers, trailing her fingers over the petals slowly then continues walking to the doors.

As the young imperial reaches the doors, she nods to both guards with a smile. Only one of them nods back, the other keeping and impassive look. She quickly climbs up the stairs and awaits the guards to open the doors. Once they are open, she hurries through and down the stairs on the other side nodding the two guards on this side.

She looks out across the bridge to the far side she can barely see it. With a sigh, she starts the long walk across. "Damn bridge is too long. I can't even imagine how long, how much, or how troublesome this thing took to build."

Alisha walks near the edge, running her fingers along the smooth cut stone smiling as she looks down over the edge. As much as she hated the long walk across the bridge to get to Weye, she liked it. The landscape from either side of the bridge looked nice and you could see for miles into the distance.

After a few minutes she reached the end of the bridge and the two buildings there. She knew little about the man that lived in the house across from the tavern except he used to be a good fisherman but had retired. She turned to the Wawnet Inn and headed inside the building then down the stairs to the ground level.

She nodded to the Altmer at the bar then turned to only table occupied by a Nord. She walked over to the man's table and tilts her head to the side slightly. "Are you Mr. Borgas?"

The man looked up at her and nodded. "I am but just call me Harkon. I assume you are Brianna's cousin, Ally?"

Alisha scowled and shook her head. "Damn that girl. My name is Alisha and I hate that nickname she gave me."

"Why would you hate a nickname like that?"

"She only called me that name when we were little to tease and taunt me. It was never one given of love." She shook her head a little while noticing the mad nod his head. "But enough on that topic and my cousin. I'm sorry we couldn't get here yesterday. Brianna had a bit of series of bad luck occur. She tripped on the stairs between districts, collided with a guard, knocking him and the person he was talking to over."

She pauses as she hears Harkon burst out laughing and lets a small smile cross her lips. "She's in jail for two days cause the man that got knocked over is a noble. And a fine was set but we both agreed being jail until tomorrow evening is nothing to worry about."

Harkon keeps laughing for a few minutes before slowly catching his breath and holding his side. "Fuck… that was a great laugh that I needed. I was gonna ask you cover my tab I've accumulated here but that story makes up for it." He laughs a little more and wipes his eyes. "Damn. So, you're here to pick up her slaughterfish meat then?"

Alisha nods her head smiling. "She told me the deal was five gold for each half pound of meat?" As Harkon nodded, she reached for her coin pouch. "How much do you have for us?"

Harkon held up a finger, went upstairs and returned a few minutes later with a scale and small barrel. "The barrel is to keep the meat fresh and cool." As he pulled some of the meat out and tested with different weight, the two found the meat to weigh in at three and a half pounds.

She nodded her head and fishes out the thirty-five gold coins, passing them across the table to Harkon and giving him long enough to check it was enough for standing up. "Pleasure doing the business with you Harkon." She grabs the sack she brought with her and slides the meat inside it carefully then offers her hand to the Nord.

He shakes the offered hand and smiles. "With you as well. If you two ever need anything else, feel free to call on me. Or just call on me to tell me more hilarious stories." He laughs a bit and takes a sip of his drink.

Alisha smiles and nods her head. "Don't worry. I'll be sure to tell you if more happens." She ties the sack off and leaves the inn grinning a bit.

As she exits the building and closes the door behind her she pauses on the top step. Coming off the main road and towards her were a rider and beautiful black horse. She looked over the horse's body smiling at his beautiful mane. She walks down the steps, her eyes moving the rider. The person riding the horse was wearing an olive-green shirt and pants but had a black riding cloak with the hood up.

For half a second, Alisha could have sworn the rider stiffened seeing her but the horse gave a loud neigh and the moment passed, leaving the Imperial to wonder if she had actually seen the rider stiffen or just imagined it.

She waited until the rider got closer and slowed down more before smiling up at the person. "Hello. I'm sorry for bothering you but I just wanted to see your horse if gorgeous. I love his black mane. It really stands out."

"It's fine. I really enjoy Smoke's black mane as well." The rider, Alisha nod identified as being female, ran her fingers through his mane slowly. "I've had him for a few years now, since he was a foal."

"I envy you of that. I've always loved horses but owning one was always so far outside of my reach. Would it be ok if I were to feel his mane as you are?"

The rider nodded her head and watched as Alisha ran her fingers through his mane. She couldn't help but look up at the rider. She blinked, feeling a flash back to the night Bradim had died as green eyes were looking into her eyes. However, she quickly spotted the woman's hair. It was black and cut shorter than the assassin's hair had been. The shock however took her a second to get over.

"Sorry, you just reminded me of someone I knew."

"It's alright, I'm sorry, but I must make my way into the city. Need to get a room for the night."

Alisha nodded her head. "That's fine. I need to make my way back to but won't slow you down. Go ahead."

The rider paused then smiled at the Imperial and lowers her hood showing off her pale skin. "Actually, I have been riding for quite a while, since Skingrad. Some company would be nice." The young Imperial nodded and the two of them started the long walk across the bridge to Imperial City's Talos district.

"May I ask why a horse has always been out of reach. Some stable sell them for not too bad of a price."

Alisha sighed softly. "That's true but my cousin and I have been on our own for a long time, so we must save most of what we make to pay for rent, food, taxes, and supplies. Doesn't help she wants us to move out of the city to a small town wet of here but that would require quite a bit of gold to do so."

The other woman nodded her head, looking between the gate doors, Smoke, and the young woman next to her on the ground. "Money was tight for me too, but I took on challenging jobs that pushed me to my limit while also surviving cheaply. When I saw Smoke as a foal in the pen, I knew I wanted, no, that I needed him. Once I found a home on the outskirts of a Skingrad, I was able to make things work. I had to fix up the house a bit, but I did it with minimum outside help to save costs. Once I had enough saved up, I raced over to buy."

Alisha smiled at the story a bit. "Must have been the happiest day of your life."

"It was. I now had the horse I had dreamed of since I was a little girl." As the two reach the doors, Alisha bids the rider a goodbye and heads up the stairs. She glances back to the woman, waves, and nods at the guards before walking in and down the steps on the other side.

Outside the main gates however, Kierana lets out a shaky breath, holding onto Smoke. "Holy fuck… I thought she had me back there." She slides off Smoke and starts giggling. "Seems like fate was on my side this time, wasn't it Smoke?" The Nord grins as she walks Smoke to the stables.

**Notes:**

So these will be short this time.

Firstly, I want to address the biggest issue I had recently. I made a big mistake and feel foolish for but during Chapter 4 and at the end of Chapter 3, I accidentally swapped the races of Alisha and Kierana. I have already re-uploaded the chapters to put it right. But I want to apologize to my readers who saw it before I changed things.

Secondly, this chapter took a while cause I wasn't sure how to do it but I have plans in place for the next three chapters and will not take as long with them.

Finally, I have special plans for the two main characters within a few chapters but won't spoil.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Kierana watched Alisha walk into the city through the main gates and shook her head. "Holy hell." She leads Smoke over to the stables whisper softly. "I can't believe how close that was. If I hadn't cut my hair shorter and dyed it black, I'd have been made right there on the bridge."

She runs her fingers through Smoke's mane before letting him go and walk into the stable pen. "Be back for you soon." She nodded to the stable hands and approached the big gate door to Imperial City. "Hard to believe I'm back so soon."

She walked towards the stairs and nods to the two guards as they open the door for her. Slowly she descends the stairs on the other side looking around. After a few seconds, she approaches one of the beggars in town and waits for the man to look at her. "I need some information." She jingles a few septims to make sure she has the man's attention.

"Depends on the info you seek." He chuckled staring at the Nord in front of him.

She runs her fingers over the coins, pulling out five of them grinning. "I know Telir Andillar is a High Elf that lives in the Temple district. What I don't know," Kierana holds out the five coins to the man smirking a little, "is her schedule or where she does business."

The man stared at the coins for a few minutes thinking carefully. "She works everyday but Sundas, probably to keep an appearance of good nature… beyond that … my memory seems foggy..."

Kierana glared at the man and instead gripped her blade. "Maybe I'll just go ask one of the beggars that lives in the Temple district." She starts to turn away, only dropping one of her septims on the ground.

"Wait wait wait!" The Nord smirks hearing the beggar approach her from behind. "Don't be overly hasty now! I think my memory is clearing!"

Kierana let the smirk fade as she turned to face the beggar. "Then speak up quickly. My time, and now my patience, runs short."

The man nodded his head quickly. "She spends her morning and evening in The All Saint's Inn in the Temple district while spending her day at a small office in the Market district, next to the Office of Imperial Commerce."

He perked up after a second. "Actually, on Tirdas and Turdas, she leaves for two hours. In that time, she takes her earnings to the Imperial Bank of Zenithar in the Elven Garden district. That's all there to know about her routine. I promise."

Kierana stares down at the man for a few seconds before she nods her head and hands him the other four gold pieces. She quickly turns and starts to walk away but stops when a though crosses her mind. She turns back to the man. "One last question." Once the beggar looks up at her, she softly asks "What's the name of the Imperial woman that's been finding hard in the arena?"

The man looks confused by the question. "Do you mean Alisha? Everyone in Imperial City knows her. She fights hard, spares the people she can, and lives with her cousin."

The Nord nods her head before once more turning away from the man and begins to make her way to the Market district, going slowly while she looks around at the city_. 'So now I have I have learned two things while arriving here. Firstly, it seems my notice level has gone down. Don't even see any posters of me up anymore. And now I know the name of the woman whose face I keep seeing. Alisha… it's a cute name'_

As she starts to enter the market district, it takes all her willpower to not stop or draw attention to herself. There, just a hundred or so feet in front of Kierana stands the very woman she was just thinking of, whom she talked to while crossing the bridge.

Doing her best to act as natural as possible, Kierana turns to the left and approaches The Main Ingredient and steps in. She nods at the man at the counter and walks over to the mandrake roots, tobacco leaves, and other ingredients on the shelves. However, she's not really looking as she's already broken into the place through the basement before.

'_I may have fooled her on the bridge but I'm sure if I spend too much time around her, she'll recognize me, but I'm running out of time if I want to take down Telir. Damnit.'_ Hearing steps behind, she does her best to remain calm as she turns. "I don't need any help if that's what you're coming ov-" Her voice stops dead, mid word as she's staring into Alisha's light blue eyes. "O-oh. S-sorry. I thought you were the owner of the store."

The Imperial shakes her head with a smile. "No sorry. I was just coming here to get a few herbs for dinner tonight and saw you so I thought I'd say but you were deep in thought. Hope I didn't interrupt."

The Nord forces a smile to her face but shakes her head. "No, it's fine. I was just thinking of what I was going to do for dinner. I like to cook when I can, a habit I picked up and learned from an Argonian when I was a really young."

Alisha nods her head. "I have some slaughterfish meat that's rare cause the breed is tough to both find and kill. But my cousin is the chef between but she's unavailable to cook it until tomorrow."

Kierana perked up a bit, surprised. "There's a rare type of slaughterfish?"

The Imperial nods her head smiling. "Yep. And from what we learned, its meat is really juicy and tender when cooked right. So, paying a small price, most of which Bri volunteered to cover, we hired a man to do it."

The assassin nods her head. "Seems a shame you have the meat but are unable to cook or enjoy it until she gets back."

"Well I have two choices in the matter. Wait and let Bri do the cooking for us and have it turn out wonderful or I attempt to cook, risk screwing it up, and even if I get it right and it's good, be killed by my cousin."

"At least you'd have a decent last meal."

The two girls laughed a bit before Alisha walks over to a table and grabs a few herbs. "It's been nice chatting with you again. Not very many people in this city seem to want to talk to the Arena champion."

Kierana forced herself to look surprised, a skill she had learned early in the Dark Brotherhood from her mentor. "Wait, you're the Arena champion!?"

Alisha stopped in her tracks, looking truly surprised. "You didn't know?"

"Of course not, I'm from outside of Skingrad. Getting news about who's the arena champion is something I rarely think about. I'm really surprised and feel happy to have met as we have."

The Imperial feels her cheeks begin to warm up, waves her hand at the Nord. "S-stop that flattery talk. I'd rather we just talk about like we have been. Don't treat me any different please."

Seeing her cheeks turn red, Kierana can't help herself. "But the champ must be an extraordinary person. Fighting all those fights, risking her life, and coming out on top each time. It's amazing."

"Oh, just shut up." The young Nord couldn't help but laugh some more but found herself caught off guard for a second as the Imperial offered her hand. "And instead of just calling me the Arena champ, you can call me Alisha."

Kierana hesitated for a second as she knew she was about to break a major rule of her family, but she took the offered hand and shook it slowly. "My name is Kierana."

"Kierana. Unique name. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"You as well soon-to-be grand champ Alisha."

"You are a pain in the ass." Both girls laugh a bit however Kierana slips past Alisha.

"It was good to meet you and get your name, but I have to run. Need to do a few errands before I head to my hotel." Kierana waves goodbye to Alisha and slips out of the store quickly. She makes her way down the street and towards the bookstore. Right now, she needed time and space away from Alisha. She had to get her mind back on track for the assassination.

As she rounded the corner to [Insert Bookstore], she blinked in shock but forced herself to keep walking as a smile crossed her face.

Just a few yards away from her was her target. Telir was walking on the other side of the street heading towards the Office of Imperial Commerce. Kierana studied the High Elf carefully. The woman carried herself like many of her race do.

Her long blonde hair was done up in a neat bun, she stood up tall with shoulders back and eyes straight as if threatening anyone to stop her or even get in her path.

As if realizing she went the wrong way, the young Nord stopped and looked around then crossed the street and followed her target carefully. Staying a few feet behind the High Elf as they walked, Kierana watches her shoulders and neckline carefully.

After a few minutes she felt a smile crossing her lips. Unlike the last time she had been here, her target was not wearing any armor, just her street clothes. She still had to be careful as many elves have the ability to touch into deep reserves of magic.

Kierana watched her enter the offices and smiled to herself. She went to the alley and garden located next to Rindir's Staffs. _'Here I am, back in this alley. If I hadn't through ahead that day, I might not have escaped and instead, wound up dead. I know for a fact that, at the time, Alisha would have killed me. … it is quite strange now. Knowing the name of the woman who has been on my thought and in my mind so much lately…'_

The Nord shook here head for a second, approached the well, turned leaning on the stones, and settled in to wait while watching the shop entrance. "Now I play the waiting game."

….

….

Alisha watched the Nord walk out of the shop, smiling to herself. _'That woman is quite interesting. And she was a lot of fun to talk to. More so than I've had with most people, even Brianna, lately.'_ She turned to the owner of The Main Ingredient. "I'll take the usual collection of herbs and ingredients my cousin likes to buy and pick up."

The man nods his head, smiling at Alisha. "Sure thing. So, who was that cute girl you were talking to? You two seemed to know each other quite well."

The Imperial blinked once in surprise. "We did? I only met her a little while ago when she was riding her horse across the bridge to the city. It was complete chance I saw her turn this towards your store and had business here as well."

"Really? That is a shame." The man started to bag up the ingredients he had collected for Alisha before handing them over. "That will be 6 gold. And if I may be so bold as to make a recommendation about such a thing, I suggest you get to know her and spend time with her. It's a rare deal for two strangers to hit it off so well."

Alisha slowly slid the money over to the merchant, thinking over what he said before turning to make her way out of his shop. _'Did the two of us really hit it off that well. Just felt like small talk to me.'_ She paused for a second and decided to take the more scenic route back to her home with Brianna.

The young Imperial turned right and walked the back way around to the big doors leading to the Palace District. She nodded to the two guards that watches her approach before the doors opened and she descended the stairs on the other side while looking up. "It doesn't matter how many times I come through this way or look upon it. The Imperial Palace always looks magnificent and beautiful."

Alisha walked down the path then climbs the stairs that lead up to the ring circling the palace. She looked upon it while making her way to the path that leads back home. _'First thing first, I'm going to drop off these food and cooking ingredients in the houses cooler. Then I'll go find Telir. She should still be located at the office or at least in that area around then._

She smiled as she finally reached their house and opened the door for herself. "Still feels weird coming home to an empty house but that'll change again tomorrow evening. Brianna is looking forward to cooking up these slaughterfish."

Alisha starts to store the food in the various and proper cupboards around the house. "Still no idea what I will say to Telir to convince her to leave me and Bri alone. Maybe I can get her front row seats to the Arena. Being the champ of Blue Team has to count for some weight there, and even if it doesn't, I can do a few fierce fights, earn the coin, the buy the seat for her."

Once the groceries were put away Alisha went upstairs and changed into some nicer clothes. "Telir likes when the people talking to her look and dress nicely. Everything I can do to get points is worth it."

Once she had changed and had a plan, the Imperial went down the stairs and left the house again. She turned and started walking back to the Market district with a plan in place and ready to act on it. Just like another woman in the city was planning but with a different type of plan . . .

**XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX**

As promised, I'll translate days and months for my readers down here.

Sundas is equal to our Sunday, Tirdas is Tuesday, and Turdas is Thursday.

Zenithar is one of the Nine Divine. He rules over work, commerce, and trade. He preaches that his followers should work hard, be wise in their spendings, and never steal. So it seemed right for a bank to hold his name.

I'm sorry this chapter came out slowly. I wasn't feeling the urge to write this story so it came in small sets. Plus I had to re-work it to fix an issue I made at the beginning of the chapter.

I hope you all enjoyed it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

As best as she could guess, an hour or so had passed by since Kierana took up her post in the garden, watching the building where her target worked. And since then, about 15 minutes ago, much to the assassin's surprise, she had witnessed Alisha making her way into the building as well.

Kierana rolled her shoulders and stepped out of the garden. Slowly she made her way around the square looking up at the window where her target and the champion were currently. However, she stops hearing the door open. Looking in that directions she finds herself caught slightly off guarding seeing an upset Alisha walk out of the door.

Without fully understanding why, or even noticing she's doing it at first, the Nord walks over to the Imperial. As she realizes that Alisha doesn't even see her, Kierana stands in front of the woman, smiling as the champ stops just short of plowing into her and blinks a few times.

"Hey Alisha, are you alright? You seem quite upset by something."

Alisha shakes her head, caught slightly off guard before her eyes widen. "Oh, hey there Kierana. Um… yeah. I guess I'm fine. I was just … lost in thought."

Kierana shakes her head. "No. It was more than that. It took me standing before you and until the very last second before you even noticed you were not alone."

Alisha looks to the side and rubs her arm. "Yeah, I guess you're right about that."

The young Nord pauses for a second, knowing she was breaking so many rules and ideals of her family, but she still felt bad about putting the young girl before her through such a traumatic experience. "Would you like to stop at an Inn, get something to drink and talk about what's wrong?" She smiles softly. _'Not like I have anything better to do while I wait for the sun to set.'_

Alisha blinks then smile a bit at the idea. "Yeah, sure. That sounds nice. After all my cousin won't be able to join me dinner tonight and it's been a long time since I ate alone."

"Lead the way then. I don't know this city that well yet."

Alisha nods her head before she turns and leads the way to down the street to The Merchant's Inn. As the two girls enter the room, Kierana quickly scans the floor they are on, taking a quick notice of how very few people were present.

Alisha looked back at Kierana and smiles noticing her look. "This place doesn't get busy until after the shops close. It's where most of the shop keepers eat and drink but otherwise its slow."

The Nord nods her head and smile. "Ah ok. We have an inn like that back in Skingrad thought it tends to be busy all day due to tourist too."

"Ah ok. Well then, shall we order our food and get a table?"

"Lead the way please Alisha."

The two girls walk over to the counter, ordering a bowl of stew, bread and drinks before turning and walking over to a table with a window. As they start to eat, Kierana looks over to Alisha. "So, what happened in the commerce office. You came out looking quite upset."

Upon hearing the question, Alisha slows herself as she spoons some stew into her mouth, taking her time to chew the meat and swallow it. She looks down at her stew, stirring it slowly as she collects thoughts, then looked back up at the girl across from her.

"This might take some time for me to explain. So, I guess it's good we have our bowls of stew and drinks here." Staying quiet, Kierana nods her head encouragingly. Alisha eats another spoonful of her stew then looks back to the Nord she's sitting with.

"Well I live with my cousin in a simple house where, originally, the rent was quite cheap. However, over the past few years, the rent for the houses around us have been going up. We were among the first ones to be hit with the increase but could handle it. Now though, it seems we were gonna be hit with another raise, one that would be hard for us to pay. And, as happened to one of our neighbors, we were worried that failure to pay would have meant we'd be evicted. So, I went to visit the landlord today. I was hoping that by offering her front row tickets to a good number of Arena matches to keep her from raising our rent."

She stirred her stew and took a few bites smiling softly. "Well, despite dressing nice, being polite and respectful, and even a little sucking up, the bitch said no. She turned down the offer and seemed insulted that I thought she'd be interested in watching fights at the Arena. I tried sucking up to her more but once again, she kept refusing me before threatening me to either leave or she'll call the guards one me. I was left with no choice but to leave her office which was quite depressing."

Kierana nods her head and swallows the bite of stew in her mouth. "Wow… that really sucks Alisha… what's your plan now that she's refused your offers and plead attempts?"

Alisha finishes her stew and taps her spoon on her bowl a few times while thinking. "I don't know. I'll have to fight in the arena more, win, and then give up those hard fought earnings to cover the raised rent. Now that I have failed, I'm certain she'll focus on our house next…"

Kierana looks down, feeling a blinding rage overtaking her. _'It's good thing that bitch will die tonight then. That will prevent Alisha and cousin from being evicted and Alisha fighting more than she already does.'_ The Imperial swallows her final bite of stew slowly. "I wish I knew what to say here Alisha. I'm sorry both doesn't seem enough or probably means that much from a woman you just met."

Alisha smiles at the Imperial and shakes her head. "You're wrong. It does mean something coming from you. Thank you for your sympathies. Sadly though, I must leave now and head home. I need to come up with a few plans on ways to resolve our upcoming dilemma."

Kierana nods her head but moves faster than the Imperial can and scoops up both of their bowls. "I got these." She smiles and carries them over to the counter where other dirty dishes were stacked. "I hope it works out for you Alisha. I have few more errands to run before the stores close." She hesitates a second then holds out her hands to the Imperial before her and smiles.

Alisha shakes the offered hand. "Don't worry, my cousin and I are quite resourceful. We'll be able to figure this out and work our way through this."

After the handshake, Kierana offers a smile. "I don't doubt it. Best of luck." She turned and made her way out of the shop, using the crowds to blend in and vanish. She looked up, noticing it's getting dark and grins.

Slowly and methodically the assassin makes her way to the sewer opening, pops it open and slides down the ladder. She reaches into a barrel and withdraws her poisoned dagger adding it to her arsenal. She climbs back up the ladder and grins watching the two lackeys leaving the Office of Imperial Commerce. _'Perfect timing.'_

She crosses the street and tests the door; happy it's unlocked and walks in. she does her best to close the door silent then crouches low and walks slowly to the base of the stairs. She peeks up the silent staircase, noticing how quiet it is before climbing the steps, going one at a time, keeping her ears open until she reaches the door.

'_You got this Kierana. Thanks to one of my brothers back home, I know the layout of her room. Bookshelves on left wall, displays with replicas of old weapons on the right wall, a poster of Cyrodiil on the far wall, and her desk in the middle of the room with two chairs facing it. Too bad her back isn't too me.'_

Taking a slow breath, Kierana leans down and peeks through the keyhole of the door Kierana see's Telir, still behind the desk working. Taking a moment to observe the target Kierana watches and waits but Telir shows no signs of realizing its her last night alive.

Readying her dagger Kierana steels herself and finally sees her moment just as Telir is reaching for a glass of wine. The young Nord bursts through the door... and all hell breaks loose.

Kierana barely has time to react so focused on her charge that she barely manages to stumble out of the way of a bolt of fire nearly striking her in the face. She rolls to the side but smacks up against the bookcase having to quickly dive away to avoid more flashes, some of the books catching aflame. Telir stands sending flames towards the young Nord, one blast after the other, her would be assassin having to dodge and roll around just to try and escape the unexpected salvo.

To Kierana it felt far longer than the mere moments that had passed. Perhaps it was fate that yet again a job in the Imperial City goes south resulting in a fight, but the Nord couldn't let this distract her. Telir's flash bolts slowly, more of a pause between them the mage seeming to tire. This was all the opening Kierana needed as after dodging yet another blast she manages to reach the desk leaping over it with her dagger gripped tightly in her hand.

Only for a sudden blast of lighting to hit the assassin sending her flying back across the room. Telir seems to be smirking as the Nord struggles to get back to her feet, something about that spell was different than the others. But she doesn't get a chance to think any further of it as Telir sends yet another blast of lighting at the girl hitting her dead center of the chest sending Kierana flying down the stairs.

As the Nord yelps in pain both from the burst of lightning to her chest and crashing down the flight of stairs, she looks up at the ceiling, her vision blurry as she tries to regain her composure. After a few seconds, she is able see clearly and looks at the top of the stairs to see the high elf standing there, smirking down at her.

Scrambling back a little, Kierana looks around unable to find the dagger. Instead she draws her short sword and manages to stagger to her feet. As she's getting ready to counter the approaching High Elf, she hears a sound to her left and turns to peek at. Unfortunately, the sight she catches gives her pause but also leaves her open. Seeing this opening, Telir blasts the Nord with another bolt of lightning, causing her to scream while she's sent flying across the room to crash into one of the lackey's desk before collapsing.

…

…

Alisha watched her new friend walk out of the door of the inn. Even as the thought bounced around in her head it made her blink once in surprise. A woman she had just met, she was already calling one of her few friends. As the Imperial finishes her drink, she stands up and nods at the man behind the counter.

The young Imperial turns to the right and starts to slowly make her way down the street while looking down. Had she looked up she'd have seen something interesting but at the moment, her thoughts were not really focused on her surroundings. Instead she was lost in her own thoughts.

'_It's odd. Even when I was younger or training with my team in the arena, I never truly called those around me friends.'_ She stops and rubs one foot on the other slowly. _Even my mentor Bradim took a long time before I considered him as such. But this girl with the gorgeous horse, I already like her and can see us spending time together._

Alisha smiles for a second but it quickly fades as she looks at the Office of Imperial Commerce. _'It's after hours, I bet Telir is still at work. Maybe if I go see her, I can offer Bri's cooking service occasionally. My cousin of course will not like it but cooking for the high bitch instead of us losing our home will be a good trade.'_

She stands outside, looking at the building, taking a few seconds to steady her breathing. "I got this. I can do this. She will agree with me." She nods her head and approaches the door the stops hearing a long crashing sound. Without hesitating, the Imperials enters the room just in time to see a figure to come flying down the stairs and crash into the floor.

Her eyes wide when she realizes the woman screaming in pain before getting to her feet is her new friend Kierana. The Nord looks at Alisha and hesitates upon seeing her, which is too long as a second later, the Imperial hears an evil sounding laugh as Telir steps down and blasts Kierana with more lightning. As Kierana gets sent flying backwards and crashes into the desk, her blade spinning away across floor before bumping into Alisha's boot.

The Imperial looks at the blade, a short sword. She reaches down slowly but then stops hearing Telir's laughter as she walks slowly to the prone and groaning Nord woman. "TELIR! STOP!" Even Alisha is shocked by her own voice, calling out like that to a woman crackling with shock magic.

As Telir pauses mid step, she turns slowly to the side, surprised that someone had intruded on this scene. "Stop what? Defending myself? This bitch attacked me! For no reason whatsoever! I will _not_ stop when she start-"

The High Elf is cut off as Kierana, having struggled to her feet, groans softly before she jumps up onto the desk and proceeds to attempt tackling Telir to the ground. However, the Nord is moving too slowly as Telir turns, grabs one of her outstretched arms and flips the woman up and over her body.

Kierana cries out in pain stunned by the hard landing, feeling the wind knocked from her. Telir laughs happily grinning down at the prone assassin and pulls out a wicked looking elven dagger. It's quickly apparent that the woman has completely forgotten about the Arena fighter in the doorway.

Before anyone even realizes what's happened, Alisha charged across the room and, using the weapon that Kierana had dropped, Alisha thrusts the sword through the High Elf's back. She thrusts the short sword in at an upwards angle and out through her stomach. Alisha's eyes go wide, unable to believe what just happened. She took a step back in a mix of shock and horror, however the young Imperial forgot to let go of the blade and pulls it out of her body.

As the High Elf collapses to the floor, holding her hands over the hole in her stomach, trying feebly but unable to stop the bleeding. As Telir lies on the ground holding herself, Alisha and Kierana eyes go from the prone body between until they lock. Neither woman seems able to completely comprehend what just happened between them…

**XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX**

So, for my notes this time, I don't have any need to translate The Elder Scrolls things to our system.

Also, I feel it is strongly necessary to give credit where credit is due. I was never a big magic user when I played the games. When I tried to write this chapter, I had to call on another's help, so a big thank you goes to Kalosec for helping. He has also been helping me by proofreading my stories and fixing the mistakes I make and overlook.

A fun note though is that I have been planning to try and reach this time point for a long time. It's gonna be a major changing point for both characters and, well I won't say more because spoilers suck.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Alisha slowly shook her head, takes a few steps back until she backed into the desk and dropped her sword. Her hands were shaking a bit heavily while staring down at Telir's body.

"Alisha?" Kierana, watches the Imperial from the floor, her body aching in many spots but her main concern and focus upon the other woman. She waited for an answer for about two minutes before she rolls to her stomach and starts to rise on all fours. "Alisha!" She raised her voice to try and get through the mental block the other woman had.

With a start, Alisha yelps softly, grabs the blade and turns to face Kierana, her short sword pointed at the Nord. Kierana stopped moving and held still. "Alisha, it's me, Kierana. We met today, ate dinner together." She hesitates then slowly starts to stand back up, using a desk for support.

Alisha shuddered and once more dropped the blade. "K-Kierana…" She looks down at the Telir's body, her eyes wide. "I… I just … I just killed her… without mercy or forethought. What… How did this happen… I don't … I don't…"

Kierana moves over to the Imperial, pulled the woman into a tight hug while also spinning them around so that Alisha was no longer looking at the body. "What you did was save me. You saved my life. If you hadn't shown up here, I'd have been killed by her. Thank you so much."

Slowly the other woman's body stops shaking and she's able to look Kierana in the eyes. However, it's easy for the assassin to tell that Alisha's mind is still racing with too many thoughts and feelings. Instead of talking more, she gently reaches out and takes the Imperial's hand in her hand and leads her outside while making sure that Alisha's eyes stay trained on her, and not look back at Telir. Once the two are outsides, she quickly drags Telir over to the gardens by the well and sits her down on the stump back there before she sits down on the rocks next to her.

"Listen, I know what happened in there is not easy for either of us to handle, that it went far beyond what was expected. But we can't dwell on that now. When you're ready, we need to get up and head to your house quickly." Kierana smiles encouragingly towards Alisha. _'And I refuse to take the action some of my family would take to kill this girl as well. I've caused enough grief. Not to mention her cousin would be after me.'_

Alisha nods slowly but looks pleadingly towards Kierana. "Ok… Will you help me get there? I'm afraid my legs won't support me the whole way."

Kierana nods her head and helps the young Imperial up, and puts an arm around her waist to supports, planning to act like the Arena Champ got drunk if any guards stop them. Slowly the two girls travelled out of the Market district, through the Elven, and entered the Talos district with no interruptions from the guards. Unfortunately for the two of them, that luck ran out as they entered Talos and a guard told them to stop.

Keeping her voice low, Kierana whispers to Alisha. "Please just play along with me. It's a lie but a safe one I think." She raised her voice while nodding her head. "Sure thing sir."

As the guard walked over to them, Kierana shifted her grip slightly on Alisha so she was leaning a bit more heavily on the assassin. Once the man reached them, his gaze shifted between the two slowly. Kierana forced a smile on her lips despite the gnawing fear in the back of her mind that he'll recognize her from the wanted posters even if they are taken down.

"May I ask what happened here? Is the young woman with you all right?"

Giving off a short giggle, the young Nord nods her head. "Oh yes. We are just fine. Sadly, my friend here," Kierana shifts her grip on Alisha gently, "Just had a bit too much to drink tonight as we sat and talked in The Feed Bag." Hearing the words and the lie, Alisha gives a random giggle but lets her footing stumble and giving a yelp while holding on tighter to Kierana. "Hey! Careful now. I don't need you falling again. One fall was more than enough already."

Alisha let another random giggle out feeling Kierana's grip tighten a bit. "Oh, coommeee onn. Loosen up."

The guard watches the two girls for a second. "Do you need a bit of help getting her home?"

Kierana laughs a little and adjusts her grip on Alisha while shaking her head. "No, I got her. As long as she doesn't push me away from her at the wrong time again."

"That was only one time! Leet it goooo."

Kierana rolls her eyes but smiles at the guard. "I've got this. We'll be fine and sorry for worrying you." Slowly the young assassin starts to lead Alisha away from the guard and down the block. She was happy that no more guards seemed to watch them.

As they neared the house entrance, Alisha shaped up slightly. "The key is in my right pocket, but I need you to grab it in case any of the guards are watching."

"Of course, it's on your right. Why wouldn't it be on your left?" Kierana hears Alisha giggling at her grumbling as she reaches down gently, sliding the key out of her pocket. _'I don't know why doing this makes me feel so weird, but it does. Never bothered me before to reach into another person's pocket.'_

Once she has the key in her hand, it takes a few seconds but Kierana unlocks the door and leads her friend inside. She closes the door behind them with her foot while studying the house she's in. _'Like most of the houses, it's not very wide but does have a second floor. Wonder if they also have a basement.'_ "Do you want to rest down here?"

Alisha shakes her head. "Help me up the stairs please. Door on the left." Kierana nods her head and smiles, leading the way upstairs and then to the door on the left. "This is my room."

Kierana opens the door and looks around before leading them to the bed. She lowers the Arena champ to the bed. "Here you go."

Alisha smiles thankfully and lies back on her bed, putting one of her arms across her forehead. However, her other arm shoots out quickly and grabs Kierana's arm. "Please… don't leave me alone. I'm not sure I can handle it right now." She felt the Nord tense up and braces herself for the rejection and being told she'd be alone. To her complete surprise though.

"Don't worry Alisha. I'll stay right here, next to you, in your bed." Alisha closed her eyes and smiled, relaxing on the bed.

Kierana ran her fingers through the girl's hair thinking a few things through her head, none of them looking optimistic for either women. However, she didn't want to disrupt and upset the young girl with her any more than she already had.

With a soft sigh the Nord adjusts on the bed to look down at the Imperial. Alisha sits up in bed and looks at Kierana curiously. "Why the sigh?"

Kierana runs her fingers through her hair thinking for a second. "Because, with the death of Telir, once the news becomes public. No, actually before that, I have to get out of town."

"Wait, what. Why must you get out of town quickly?"

Kierana forces herself to not look away from Alisha. "I entered her office as the lackeys left. There are high odds I have been noticed and will be named as her killer."

Alisha shifts as she watched Kierana. "There is one flaw there though… I was the one that ran her through with the sword. And, I was her last visit. And they saw how pissed off I was when I left. There's a good chance they'll name me as the culprit. I also have a guard captain that despises me."

Alisha blinks as a thought strikes before looking Kierana in the eyes. "Hey Kierana. Why were you there, with your sword out?"

Kierana looks away but is stopped as Alisha makes her look back at her. The young Nord sighs a bit. "I omitted the truth when I first came here as I didn't think it'd involve you. But Telir, or someone working with her, was trying to expand beyond Imperial City. While at the bank a little while ago, I heard two of the higher businessmen there talking about how they had notice that Telir's people were putting out feelers in Skingrad's outer homes and settlements.

"When I realized that this included my house and how I barely have enough money as it is, I made the choice to come here and try to discuss the situation with her. Then I met you, we talked, and I realized what was going on. I don't know why or what caused it, but my blood started to boil, and I was really enraged by it. When I got there, I tried to discuss it, but my replies came out angry and without thinking about, I guess my body went to a fighter stance.

"She attacked me without warning. I drew my blade when her magic first started to build up but then had to start dodging fire and lightning and was doing fine until she backed me to the stairway and stopped. I thought she was coming to her sense only to get blasted down the stairwell by her attacks."

As she talked, Kierana broke eye contact and started looking away and down. After a few seconds of silence, she starts to fear the worse, fear that she not only pushed away her new and only friend or that she'll summon the guards. She jumps in shock as Alisha's puts a comforting hand on her leg. Kierana looks at the hand but is unable to look up and into Alisha's eyes.

"Kierana, please, look at me."

Slowly, the Nord looked up and into the Imperial's light blue eyes, unsure of what she'll find there. Once their eyes lock, Alisha smiles and pulls Kierana close to her in a hug. "Thank you. I'm not happy that things went so badly for both of us. But it has been quite a long time since someone actually stepped up like that for me or my cousin."

Kierana took a few seconds to enjoy the hug as it was a lot more warming than hugs from her family. Soon though she pushes Alisha back and shakes her head. "I still need to be getting out of- "

"Actually. I think the situation is that we both need to get out of town. The lackeys may have seen you, but they defiantly saw me fighting and arguing with Telir before she kicked me out." She pauses for a second. "There's no way to know which of us those idiots will actually try to pin this on. And while it will look guilty for me to seen as fleeing. I can leave a note for Brianna that something has come up that has called me away from Imperial City for a few days."

Alisha's eyes drift half closed in memory and thought. "We actually developed a message system when we were little kids, improved it during our time hunting in the sewers for rats and goblins, and still use occasionally today. I can drop that message into the note for her letting her know there's another note hidden in the usual spot which will tell her what all happened so she's not worried."

Kierana nods her head as Alisha talks about her plan. "How long do you think that will take you? I think we should find a way to slip out as soon as we can."

Alisha looks around her room slowly, glancing at her Arena armor. "The note won't take long, but it will take a bit longer to collect a few things. Brianna and I kept most of our" The Imperial stops and laughs sadly. "Our armor in the basement. It's nothing compared to my Arena Raiment, but it might look suspicious if that comes with us."

Kierana laughs a little bit and nods her head. "While it could be quite interesting to see you running around in that, it would attract a ton of attention."

Alisha lightly pushes the Nord with her foot. "At least I know how to dress when I go out. You dress like you crawled out of a sewer."

"Well isn't that rude of the Arena champ. I'll have you know I haven't crawled out of the sewers in years whereas you smell like you just came out one."

"Oh, really now? Then maybe you should look in a mirror more often with how dirty you are."

The two girls started laughing a bit more before Alisha slowly stands up from the bed. "Though I guess I should ask, what do you think I should bring with me. I can't take too much or it's suspicious but the same goes for too little."

Kierana thinks for a second looking around the room. "I'd suggest you change clothes first, bring another pair with you and your sword. If you have armor secreted away you can wear or carry out with us, bring that. Some money and a few light provisions like you'll be staying at an inn. I am good friends with one inn keeper and he usually give me a little food for free there."

Alisha nods her head thinking. "I'll also bring the two books I normally do when I travel with Bri. I've read one of them a few times, the other is fairly new but I enjoy reading the fantasy stories there."

Kierana nods her head then turns her head to give Alisha some privacy to change. As she starts to change, Alisha stops and looks over Kierana. "You might need to borrow some clothes; your current outfit shows you were in a fight. You can borrow some of mine since we have a similar build."

Kierana looks down at her own clothes and realizes that some of the blast of magic she was hit with ruined the edges and bottom of her shirt. "Oh wow. Hadn't even realized that." As she kept her back to Alisha privacy, she was caught off guard as a matching pair of shirt and pants were thrown over her head. "Wait what the!?" She pulled them off her head while hearing Alisha giggling and laughing a bit at the young assassin's reaction.

Alisha smiled a bit. "You can wear and borrow those while using Brianna's room to change."

Kierana nodded her head. "Thanks." She got of the bed and went to change in the other room. As she slid her ruined clothes off, she looked over them carefully. "Shame to throw these away but it'd be hard to explain what happened to them." She quickly pulled on the clothes borrowed from Alisha while glancing around Brianna's room noticing that it'd decorated more with pictures and books compared to Alisha's room that had the more fighter feel. "Two cousins with very different tastes."

Once she finished changing, Kierana left the room and knocked on the door to Alisha's room. Somewhat muffled she heard the other woman's reply come though the door. "I'll be out in a few minutes. How about you head downstairs and see if there's anything you think we need. After all, the sooner we leave, the better."

"Sure thing." Kierana heads down the stairs and looks around the Imperial's house, mentally going through a list. _'Most things we need, I'd have in abundance back home in Telepe. But I can't take Alisha there for many reasons.'_ She walks over to a cupboard and pulls out some loaves of bread, grapes, and a few carrots. Her eyes fall on the salted meats but immediately dismisses though. _'That would be a giveaway and I'm sure she'd leave those for her cousin. I know how much prison food sucks, part of why I have avoided capture so much.'_

As she finishes packing up a few small items making sure to not make it obvious Alisha is fleeing or with someone else, she heard footstep and turned to the Imperial. The young Nord blinked once as the woman before managed to look both deadly and beautiful.

Her hair had been tied back in a ponytail but that only made the hard lines in her face and her light blue eyes stand out more. She was wearing a dark navy shirt with black pants. The clothes had an old faded look to them but just based on her movement, Kierana felt certain they weren't as old as they appeared. On her hip were a short sword and a dagger but when she looked closer, she noticed something odd about the sword.

Noticing her gaze, Alisha chuckled softly. "The sword broke a few years ago when I was fighting some goblins in the sewers. I had been humiliated in the Arena and was angry. There's a mace and spare sword down in the basement but I want to leave those in case a guard who knows us looks down there."

Kierana nodded her head in understanding. "Alright. Now we just have to make our way out of here and I need to get Smoke from the stables. I think if we leave at different times, maybe 15 minutes apart, it won't look so suspicious. On the other side of the bridge, go pass Weye and north. There is a crossroad there. Only question is who should leave first. I have to collect my horse and if I go first, I won't be waiting as long at the crossroads, but we'll be leaving closer together but if I go last, you'll be at the crossroads longer."

Alisha looks down as she takes time to think. "You go first. I'll meet there. I'm not really fond of the idea of standing in the dark next to a crossroads alone with only a dagger."

Kierana nods her head and smiles. "I'll see you soon." After both girls nod their heads, the Nord turns and makes her way out the door, running her fingers through her hair for a second.

**XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX**

I want to say sorry to my readers that it took me so long to get this chapter out. I rewrote it a few times and kept changing things as I edited it. On the bright side I have a good idea how to run the next few chapters so that should help me get them out quickly.

I have quite a few shocking plans in place to come from both Kierana and Alisha, but I don't want to give away spoilers as that ruins the fun.

I want to give thanks again to Kalosec for the help he gave me with editing this chapter.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

As Alisha leaned on the edge of the Old Bridge, she felt her body shaking still. She looked back down the road and noticed the patrol they spotted earlier walking away from them but still too close to the crossroads to Skingrad. After a few seconds, she turned her head and looked down at her hands slowly, cursing how much they were shaking. As she heard a soft splash, she blinked a few times before she looked over the edge and saw Kierana and Smoke under the bridge.

"Come down here Alisha. It's cooler, more private, and in my opinion, relaxing." The young Nord smiled softly. Alisha nodded her head and pushed back from the ledge, quickly making her way down and around to join the other two under the bridge. Kierana sat down on an old crate and looked at her new travelling company. "We'll just sit here for a bit, catch our breath, move on to Pell's Pass then west through the wilderness ok?" When she only got a silent nod, Kierana turned to look more closely at Alisha. "You can talk to me you know, right?"

The Imperial rubbed her right arm slowly, not wanting to look into those beautiful green eyes. Instead she slowly made her way to a barrel and hopped up on it, only half noticing the back of her head was pressed to the bottom of the bridge.

She noticed Kierana shifting a little in the awkward silence and so nodded her head slowly. "Y-yeah... yeah, I know that… Thanks Kierana. It's just… it's just this has been… So much changed in such a short time… I still feel like I'm still not sure it's all real. Do you know what I mean?"

Kierana nodded her head and gently patted the Imperial's leg. "I understand it's a lot. So much has happened in the past few hours that it feels like years. It'd overwhelm anyone."

Nodding her head slowly, Alisha looked at the hand patting her leg and then water where Smoke was getting drink, while wondering how things had got so messed up. They had made a very simple plan. Quick, easy, clean simple. Most would have called that enough.

But this time, things had gone off the rails quicker than they could have predicted…

…

…

_***One hour, forty-five minutes***_

Kierana nodded her head at Alisha and gave her a smile. "Don't worry, I'll meet you there." She turned away from the Imperial and walked to the door. However, as she opened the door and stepped out, the young nord gave a loud yelp of surprise as she barely stops in her tracks from slamming into an Imperial Guard that had his hand up is to knock on the door. She held her breath for a second before taking a step back for room. "S-s-sorry about that sir."

The guard blinked and took a step back as well. "No worries citizen, it is my fault for having hesitated on the step for a second. I have come by to ask if the owner of the house is home."

Alisha stepped up to the door looking over the guard but unable to recognize the man beneath his helmet. "I'm here. What is it you were hoping to discuss with me sir?"

The man hesitated for a second before looking Alisha in the eyes. "I doubly regret the news I am about to tell you for two reasons." The guard paused for a second looking awkward while turning his head to the side then looks back at the Imperial. "There's been a murder in the Market district. And we have yet to the find the killer… like what happened with your mentor."

Kierana forces herself to remain stationary but she looks over at her new friends worried to see how she's taking not only the fact it's already known Telir is dead but also hearing Bradim mentioned. The young Imperial however isn't seeing the guard or the Nord but has a far distant look in her eyes. Kierana gently reaches over to give the young Imperial a squeeze on her arm. "Do you have any suspects yet?" She asks the guard without turning to face him, more worried about Alisha.

The man looks between the two women for a second but shake his head. "Unfortunately, we do not. The two men that work for her were found passed out drunk in their usual hangout The Bloated Float. They normally don't get this drunk, so something happened today." The man gives a sigh and removes his helmet for a second, running his hand through his hair then puts the helmet back on. "The city is currently in a lockdown until the awaken and are questioned."

Kierana forces herself to stay calm at the news and not panic. "But I didn't pay for my horse to be stabled long. I need to get back to him."

"What is your horse's name Miss? I can go talk to the stable hands right away for you, ensure that you are not charged extra for this inconvenience. I'm sorry this is happening but as an Imperial legionnaire, I will ensure you are not caused any more delays or setbacks by this tragedy than your already have been."

As the man was speaking, the Nord gave the Imperial's arm a hard squeeze and managed to snap her out of her stupor. Alisha looked to the guard. "I don't know I can't wait the night. I must be off in a hurry. One of my cousins in Bruma sent word yesterday that our aunt was very ill. I wanted to leave then but had some business to take care off."

The guard looks down tapping his foot obviously in thought. "I am very sorry to hear that. I know your situation. My own mother passed not long ago but I was unable to go and visit her because of duty." He looks up at Alisha. "If you leave right now, I might be able to pretend that by the time I got here, I didn't see you. I could even distract the guards at the front gate but if you don't get across the bridge fast enough, they might call you back."

Without thinking it over, Kierana turns to Alisha and smiles. "Take my horse, Smoke. He's a good boy that often listen quite well. He'll get you to your aunt's place."

Alisha looks at Kierana in shock as she smiles. "Are you sure? He's your pride and joy."

"Go on take him."

The guard nods. "Give me a few minutes and I distract the guards for you Alisha. I don't want you to miss a chance to say goodbye to your aunt." When both the girls nodded, they guard turned and departed from their front door.

Once it was closed both girls locked eyes. "This just got problematic. But we can at least you get you out the city quickly Alisha." In her mind Kierana is already planning to leave through the sewers but she can't tell the other woman this or else it'll be obvious that Kierana knows more about the city than she claimed.

Alisha looks down thinking quickly about the city layout. "I have a possible plan in mind but it's risky." The young Imperial walks over to the table and gets a map of the city out. Curious, Kierana follows her over and looks at the map.

After spending a second looking at it, Alisha points to a back garden on the other side of the street. "Right here, there is a grate that leads into the sewers. From there, follow the sewer system heading north. You'll need to watch out for goblins but there's a door that leads to the next section of the sewers, the sunken sewers. Once you get through there, you'll be in the Elven Garden sewers.

"This is where things get risky. You can try to sneak out through an old man's basement and then his front door which I don't recommend or you can travel through the Waterworks with even more goblins, loop around back to the Elven garden sewers, and then head up ladder and end up in a grotto in the Elven Garden district.

"From here you'll have to sneak past a guard, open the door the Market district and dive into that sewer system. A month ago, a murder used that route to escape, shutting the divider between the sewer entrance and the rest of the sewer. A week ago, I was down there and opened it back up. Once you are back in the sewers, you head north to the North Tunnel. This will lead you to an exit on the Isle."

As she talks, both girls have their finger on the map, following the path taken. Listening closely, the young Nord thinks over the first part of her journey and then having to dodge the guards in the Elven Garden district. Kierana walks around the Alisha to look more closely at how close she'll be to the door she must get through. "I'm fairly confident I can pull that off. But with the number of goblins and other degenerates in the tunnels, that'll be slow going for me. You might need to wait somewhere other than the crossroads for me to arrive.

Alisha nods her head. "I'll find a good spot for me and Smoke to watch. Don't worry, I'll keep your baby safe for you."

Kierana chuckles a bit. "He's a good boy and will defend himself and you if anything happens." She stops caught off guard as Alisha sticks out her hand to her. "Hmm?"

Alisha grins. "We have to move fast if we are to get out of here uncaught. Best of luck and I'll see you in a few mins ok?"

Kierana nods her head and shakes the offered hand. "You take care too."

Alisha quickly rolls up the map, puts it back on the shelf and looks to the Nord. "Let get on with this."

Both girls hurry out the door and go their separate ways, Kierana fading into a shadow as she moves towards the sewer Alisha told her about. The young Nord snuck past a guard doing a slow patrol on the street and waited next to the grate until the man had moved farther away. Once it was clear, she carefully lifted the grate and started to climb down, closing the grate silently above her.

She made her down the sewer and looked around. _'Didn't think I'd be in these sewers again so soon. Least of all with an ally above ground.'_ Kierana smiled a bit at the change in situations and started silently running her way down the sewers glad to have practiced enough to know what she is doing.

As she starts following the path described to her by Alisha, the young Nord quickly scans the tunnels quickly. _'If I wasn't supposed to meet Alisha, I might take my time and see what beauties have been hidden or lost down here. I tend to get lucky when I scavenge.'_

Kierana pauses as she hears splashing and remembers the warning of goblins. The young Nord shakes her head and focuses on the task at hand. Peering around the corner, she spots a few of them standing in a circle screeching at each other. She smiled and pulled out her sword. _'Been too long since I dealt with goblins. Not that they were ever a challenge.'_

A few minutes later the young Nord pulls the septims off their bodies and pockets it then grabs the shaman's staff of lightning. "I can get a bit of gold for this." She slings the staff over her back and smiles then continues sneaking her way through the sewers. "I can't linger though; Alisha and Smoke have to be across the bridge by now."

The assassin quickly makes her way through the sewers but does her best to remain in the shadows and silence. As Kierana continues her trek, she deals with the rats and mudcrabs, scavenging their meat to ensure the two of them will have something to eat.

The young assassin looks up the sewers grate above her. "This move will be the most dangerous in my journey. If I'm seen, there is no way I'll be able to explain where I came from without saying I was in the sewers." She takes a slow breath to steady herself then grips the ladder and climbs up.

She peeks around as the grate opens, being careful and slow in her movements. Once she knows it's all clear, the Nord exits the sewers carefully and lowers the lid back down. The girl makes her way to the edge of the courtyard, peering around and listening closely to everything around her. She starts to grin seeing no guards and darts her way into a shadowy corner from which she can watch and focus on the gate leading the Market district.

Moving slowly, Kierana creeps towards the door, sticking to the shadows, keeping any eye out for any sign of guards. Despite seeing no on there, she waits quietly, studying the door and looking for any signs of patrol. _'I've heard too many stories from my family to even contemplate attempting to move without careful study._

Sure enough, a patrol of three guards came around the far corner of the square moving a slow pace but would have spotted her easily tying to go through the door. Kierana sinks a bit farther into the shadows and watches them, waiting silently for them to continue their rounds and get out of sight. Once they've moved past, she gives a count to 15 then moves for the doors.

She gently presses herself against the door, listening carefully to any sounds before she gently opens the gate slowly. She peeps through the opening and scans around before she pushes the door open enough to slip through. She smiles feeling back in territory she recognizes. _'Ok, this will be the easy part of me. I know this distract and the sewers.'_

She cuts across the street moving silently and sticking to the shadows smiling. She pauses and peeks around the corner of the store then ducks into the alley but investigates the courtyard. She suppresses a groan as she must wait again for guards to go pass the area. After giving it a worried minute or two, with the young woman looking back over her shoulder to make sure no one was coming up behind her, the guards moved.

Kierana waited a few second and ran into the courtyard but stopped and waited in the shadows next to the grate. She closes her eyes listening for any sounds. Once she feels safe, she lifts the lid and makes her way down the ladder, closing the hatch silently behind her.

She takes a second to think back to that day not long ago when she had run for her life down this very ladder and had only survived by closing the metal grate and preventing Alisha from getting to her. She turns around and smiles happily seeing the Imperial had indeed opened the gate for her.

She moves down the stairs and start moving fast as she can along the passages. She only spends a few minutes killing a few of the rats and mudcrabs and harvesting their meat but doesn't worry about hunting them all down.

As she nears the grate that will open to the island she slows down considerably as she hears squawking. Nearing the source of the sound, she peers around the corner and spots three goblins there, looking lost and confused.

Hefting her blade, she moves forward to help end their suffering and confusion. The young woman doesn't waste any time in bringing down all three, grabbing their coins, a health potion, and a scroll she'll look at later.

Quickly she moves to the gate and opens it, exiting the sewers and now being on the isle outside the city. "Now all I need to do is swim the river, dodge guards on the road, and find Alisha and Smoke. No biggie."

Despite the no biggie, it took the young Nord fifteen minutes to get across the lake due to the slaughterfish in the area. Once on dry land again, she shakes most of the water off her body and makes her way up the shoreline towards the rendezvous point. _'I hope she's still in the area. That trip took far too long as it is and then I was an idiot and choose to swim rather then travel to the bridge and walk under it. Would have been so much fast. Stupid.'_

Finally though, she found her new friend and horse, smiling at being reunited…

…

…

Kierana gave Alisha's leg a light slap. "Hey, I need you to wake up a bit. We need to get moving. I know a guy in Pell's Pass, he'll let us stay there the night, then we can continue onwards ok?"

Alisha blinks a few times, snapping herself out of the memory and story Kierana had told them when she caught up. The poor girl seemed to have gone though quite an ordeal just to meet with her and the horse. "Ok yeah, lead the way." She forced herself to smile and focus on the moment and her new friend.

Together the girls walked across the water and up the banks on the other side of the river. After a bit of walking they reached the small town of Pell's Pass. Kieran led the way to a house on the outside the town and knocked on the door a few times. After a brief wait, she knocked again. "Stop the damn noise! I'm a coming you little hooligans. Waking me up in the middle of the night. Outta skin you alive and hang you by your feet."

Kierana started giggling a little at the complaining but Alisha started to feel very nervous about this person. As the door opened, she was surprised to see a middle age woman standing there, glaring daggers at the two of them and holding a bit knife.

"Hello there Grace. Been quite a bit since I stopped by."

"… ah fuck. It's the little annoying brat that never knew how to leave me alone and ate all my food."

"I never ate all your food, I barely bothered whenever I stopped by, and you did tell me I could whenever I need to. Now, it's cold and late. Would it be alright if we came in and used the basement bedroom? You can bitch, rant, yell, and cuss me out in the morning to your hearts content. Deal?"

The woman gave a long pause, long enough that Alisha started to think she was gonna turn away. However, the woman named Grace burst out laughing a bit. "To my heart's content eh? Then you'll be needing to stay here for a week before I'm done." The two women laughed a bit as Grace stepped aside for them to come in then closed the door behind them. "You know where the bed is downstairs, I won't be showing you. Sleep well you two. We'll talk in the morning."

"Night Grace and thank you." Kierana walked over to a trap door in the floor and opened it up.

"Thank you miss Grace." Alisha followed Kierana down the ladder and into a small hallway. The two girls walked down the hall and into a bedroom with a large bed on a stone floor. However, seeing Kierana about to say something Alisha shook her head and smiled. "I think the sleeping arrangement in obvious here. We both take the bed. Stone sucks to sleep on and the bed is big enough for us both."

Kierana starts blushing a bit at the proposal but regains her composure quickly. "Um yeah, that'll work fine." She keeps a blush on her face, but the two girls slip their clothes off and change in opposite corners, Kierana hanging her wet clothing up to dry in a corner.

The two girls climb into the bed together, Alisha seeming more at ease to this situation than Kierana was. However, neither girl really gave it much thought or said much as sleep was quick to claim them both away from the horrible night they had endured.

**XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX**

I know this took a long time to get out, I'm sorry about that. About halfway through, I just lost my will or want to write. I still have plans for this story, but I might be a bit slower on posting and for that I'm sorry.

I think this chapter and the one following will show quite a change in character for Alisha as well as some changes in how the two girls interact, but I won't be giving away those details anytime soon.

To those who are still following my story after such a long time between chapters, I thank you very much. The support means a lot.


	10. Chapter 10

To all my readers, I hope everyone had a good New Years Eve and that you have a good 2020.

**Chapter 10**

As the young Imperial wakes up, she keeps her eyes closed enjoying the warmth for a second before noticing something strange. Her pillow feels different than usual and seems more elevated. With a groan to herself, she reaches up to fluff the pillow only to pause as her hand lands on something different. Firm yet she was able to squeeze it. Upon squeezing the strange feeling thing, she heard a sound that caused her to freeze, a soft moan.

Hearing that sound brought the memory of the last day crashing back down on her and she opened on eye slowly, already knowing what she'll see. Her head was resting on Kierana's arm, having moved closer to the Nord as they slept. Meanwhile, her wondering hand was rest on one of the woman's breasts which explained the moan she heard. The Imperial froze up slightly, not wanting to keep her hand where it was but not wanting to wake the other woman.

She closes her eyes again to try and fake being asleep yet knows her cheeks are already a bright red color. She slowly eases the grip on the Nord's breasts causing another soft moaning sound. Doing her best to move slowly she lowers her hand back to the sheets, hoping and believing she had just avoided a super awkward moment.

"I don't recall that I have ever been woken up to the feeling of someone playing with my breasts." Kierana gives a light chuckle as she watches the young Imperial's reaction of hiding her face behind her hands trying to pull sheets over her at the same time.

Kierana sits up in bed and smiles while shaking her head softly, though she mainly does this motion so that her hair falls over her face to cover her cheeks. While she wasn't going to be saying it out loud, she had quite enjoyed the feeling of the Imperial's hand roaming her chest.

Kierana stands up, still smiling until she looks over at the still hiding Alisha. She hesitates then walks to the end of their shared bed and sits there. She slowly puts a hand on Alisha's leg, patting it a little. "All joking aside, I wasn't too concerned with being woken up that way. And you're one of the few people in this world I would even trust enough to do that."

When she didn't hear a respond the young Nord sighed softly and ran her fingers through her hair. "I'm sorry if I made you too uncomfortable or upset Alisha." She slips from the bed and walks to a corner of the room to start changing. As she does, she keeps her eye on the bed trying to think of how to cheer the other girl up.

Alisha for her part was staying deep under the covers to hide just how red her cheeks were as Kierana's words had impacted her in a special way. _'Too few people would even say that they are comfortable with sharing a bed with me. Yet she's sees me as being among the few she's ok with me accidentally feeling up. Damnit, we haven't known each other long she already has me blushing this much.'_

Once she feels her blush and embarrassment she starts to sit up and turn towards where she thought the Nord had walked off to. She opens her mouth to apologize as both women freeze up and a war starts to wage about which of them is blushing a deeper and darker shade of red now. The young Imperial was caught staring eye to eye with the Nord as Kierana was in the middle of changing and only wearing a pair of panties.

It's not sure which of the girls was the one to let out a yelp first but both girls did as Alisha pulls the covers up and over her face and Kierana ducks behind an armor stand covering her exposed chest.

"Sorry. S-sorry. I'm sorry Kierana! I.. I didn't mean to s-stare! I just couldn't look away! No wait! I meant from your face. O-or shit. Damn." The woman's words fade away as she burrows her face into the pillow on the bed, still talking into it.

Kierana for her part was hiding behind the stand, pressing her face to it as she was blushing a dark red with her small chest having just been exposed as it was. _'I now _defiantly_ owe Jeelius an apology over laughing so hard when he was telling us a tale of his first love.'_

After forcing herself to calm down, the young woman slipped her clothes on and walked over to Alisha. "I-I'm dressed now. You can take the blankets off your head. I'm gonna… I'm just going to go upstairs and get some food. J-join me when you can as we have to start heading to my home soon ok?"

After waiting for the woman under the blankets to nod her head, Kierana turns and heads to the hallway then up the ladder to house proper. The young assassin was not at all surprised to see Grace sitting at a table with an empty plate and a glass next to her looking at paper.

"I assume the two of you girls had a fun morning. I think the people in Imperial City could hear your yelping and screaming."

Kierana started to blush hard and nearly dropped the bowl she was getting out of the cabinet. "Always the blunt and straight forward type aren't you Grace. And wipe that smug look I know you have off your face you old bat. Nothing like that happened. Just a wardrobe malfunction and a moment of startled … intimacy I guess you could call it."

"HA! A wardrobe malfunction is something happens when the emperor wears the wrong colors on his coronation or to a state banquet. What I heard in my own basement was something else entirely. Ungrateful whelp."

After trying, and failing, to keep a smile from spreading over her face, Kierana finishes making her fruit salad, she walked over and sat the table. "Believe what you want granny but what happened truly was just a wardrobe malfunction. Not everyone is like you takes anything the breathes and doesn't try to kill her to bed. Then again I'm sure half the things you did bed tried to kill you after."

The two women glared daggers for a second before they both split into wide grins and started laughing a bit. "I'm sorry it's been so long since I stopped by Grace. But things got crazy for me and then hectic and then ugly, so I was avoiding the road for a bit."

Grace stops laughing and looks puzzled for a second. She leans across the table but glances at the door to the cellar then back to Kierana and whisper softly. "She doesn't know I take it?"

Kierana pauses mid bite too look Grace in the eyes, glance to the cellar, then back to Grace shaking her head. Grace leans back and nods her head slowly but keeps her voice down. "She'll have to know eventually. This is not something you can hide forever."

Kierana nods her while looking into her fruit. "If only things were that simple for me." Grace opens her mouth to question the girl's meaning, but other girls hear a bit of grunting before Alisha shoves the door open and climbs up the ladder. Kierana smiles a bit and waves to Alisha. The young Arena Champion's cheek redden briefly but she waves back and heads to the kitchen quickly.

Grace watches the exchange and starts smirking. "Aw, how cute. The lovebirds feeling embarrassed around another person yet making noises that wake up the long dead emperors." She starts laughing as Kierana starts coughing midbite and Alisha lets out a quiet sound, nearly dropping the bowl she was pulling down.

"Grace, you are just an old fucking bitch."

"Hey, you knew how I was before you came here. Shouldn't have brought your" Grace pauses as smirks a bit more before continuing with more emphasis "_girlfriend_ to my home if you wanted peace.

Kierana nearly drops her fork as she misses her mouth with it and Alisha lets out something that sounded like a squeak before they heard a bowl hi the floor.

"You good in there Alisha?"

After a few seconds pause, her reply came. "Y-y-yeah I'm good. I um… I just dropped my bowl on the floor." They hear a bit of movement in the kitchen before the young Imperial comes out of the kitchen and hesitantly sits down at the table. However, she keeps her eyes down on her food.

Kierana sees a smile pulling at Grace's lips and heads her off before she can speak. "Do you recall our travel plans we made last night Alisha?" When the other woman gives a slow nod, Kierana smiles. "Glad to hear. Sadly, we can't stay too long as it's a long trip south of here to that cabin you mentioned."

Alisha slows down on chewing her food confused at first by Kierana's words. But then she recalls they're sitting with Grace so of course she's not telling the truth. What she doesn't know is that what she's saying is also coded for Grace to understand their situation and plans.

"Well, I might as well let you continue your damn tradition of pillaging all my food like every other year when you visit. I got some dried and salted meats in a shed out back you can take. There's also bread back there as well."

Kierana blinks and looks up at Grace not having been offered such a gift before. Grace kept a straight face for a couple of seconds before smiling. "Don't give me that look. It's not often I get visitors and even then, I don't get to laugh this much."

Kierana's thankful expression vanished and give the older woman the middle finger making her laugh a bit more. "Thanks, you old hag. We'll be gone after Alisha finishes her food and we pack up what little is downstairs."

Grace nodded her head before she turned away and walked outside the door to send a messenger bird ahead of the girls that Kierana's cabin near Skingrad needs to be cleaned up a bit, so it looks lived in. Kierana turned to face Alisha, suddenly feeling quite uncomfortable after what happened downstairs. "Um… uh… I'll pack up while you finish eating. Can you take care of washing the bowls out?"

Alisha nodded her head slowly. "Y-yeah I can handle that Kierana. And… I'm sorry for earlier."

Realizing she wasn't gonna dodge this topic so easily, Kieran turned to face Alisha. "Listen. What happened downstairs, all of it, is both of our faults. But if I'm perfectly honest" Kierana reaches out and puts a hand on the other woman's shoulder. "I'm not offended, upset, or all that bothered by it. I just didn't expect you to get that type of show after only knowing me for two days."

Alisha blushes but smiles and finally looks up from her bowl to look at Kierana. "Thanks. That makes me feel a bit better about it. Now go ahead and start packing, I'll get the dishes."

Kierana smiles as she stands up from the table and walks to the trapdoor. As she lifts it up, she can't resist the urge and looks back at Alisha. "Don't worry, I won't perv on the arena champ's panties lying in the middle of the floor." She starts laughing as the young Imperial coughs on her food and gives her the finger. "Sorry Alisha, I couldn't resist."

"You and Grace are both fucking assholes."

Kierana laughs a bit more as she climbs down the ladder and walks down the hallway to the bedroom. '_I still can't quite believe the turn of events these past two days. Once I get to Skingrad, I need to make my way to the West Weald Inn and contract one of my brothers there. From what I know, a Redguard that works there is one of us._' The young assassin starts folding her clothes and putting them in a pack. However, she blushes a little but doesn't let it stop her from doing the same with Alisha's clothing. '_Never thought I'd be made to blush this much or so easily and yet I've done more of that these past two days than I have in my entire life._'

She takes her time knowing that Grace understood her code and was sending a message ahead for her. However, knowing she can't take too long, she finishes their packing, sling them both up on her shoulders and makes her way back to, and then up the ladder to find Alisha looking around the house with a soft smile on her face. "Good to see you're smiling again and not hiding you face."

"Oh, shut up." Alisha takes her pack from Kierana but smiles as both women make their way out the door.

Kierana smile looking over at Grace. "We'll be our leave now but don't worry. The basement is total wreck, the dishes are lying in the sink, and we emptied half the cupboards. Now we are off to get your meats and breads."

Grace didn't bother to look at Kierana. "You are just a liar little one. Now scram before I change my mind."

Kierana smile and leans down to hug the older woman. "Thank you very much Grace. And take care of yourself ok?"

Grace smiles and hugs Kierana back. "Take care of yourself as well. Both of you. Now go ahead and get. I'm not one for open hospitality."

Alisha smiles. "Thanks from me as well Grace."

Alisha and Kierana walk around the back of Grace's house together and head to the shed out back. "Hey Alisha, you wanna grab the meat? I'll get Smoke ready to go ok?"

The young Imperial nods her head and walks into the shed with two small bags. She starts to pack one with meat and the other with bread.

Kierana walks around the shed and to the back of it smiling as she finds Smoke there, just relaxing. "Hello there boy. Sleep well?" She smiles watching the black horse start to stand up. The Nord smiles happily as the horse rises and she slowly runs her fingers through his mane. "We have a long trek ahead of us. We're gonna walk and make our way to home to Skingrad boy. But don't worry, we're gonna walk. You, me, and Alisha."

She slowly re-saddles her horse and gets him ready. As she finishes the prep, she hears the shed closing and Alisha walks over with sacks of food. "So what's the plan for this trip?"

"We're gonna take the food bags, load them up on Smoke, and then the three of us will walk to my place. Should only takes us about a day and half through the woods at the longest."

Alisha nods her head and looks at the woods around them then smiles at her new friend. "Let's get going then Kierana. And maybe I can learn more about on our way."

"That sounds great." Kierana forces a smile while already knowing that won't be a fun topic when it comes out. Together, the girls and Smoke turn away from Pell's Gate, head slightly south and start their long journey.

**XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX**

Ok so this one will be a bit longer than normal and I hope you don't mind.

Firstly, I'm sorry for slow writing just feel my writer's block has been acting up more and more and I'm not sure of a good way to fix or get around it except only write a little here and there. So I'm still working on my story but might take longer than planes.

Secondly, I want to send thanks again to Kalosec for helping with my writing and editing it when he has time.

Thirdly, I have noticed that changes I make in the edit session don't seem to stick when I go and check the story. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. If there's someone who can help me with this, please do message me.

Fourth, I plan to remove each chapter I have and re-upload them so that the changes and edits I have made will be there instead of all the errors remaining.


End file.
